


Entwined

by daisherz365



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Sherlolly - Freeform, Wolf Pack, mollock, wolflock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-08 13:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/761743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisherz365/pseuds/daisherz365
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Wolflock Molly Hooper is a rogue young woman who doesn't spend much time in one town, when she wakes up in a field with a handsome man. She does what most people used to not sticking around too long do, she runs. However the old tales (legends) have a story for these two, one that simple won't have a different ending.  (Summary Subjected to Change)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

1.

**Molly**

The last thing you want to happen is finding yourself stark naked with your limbs covering another body in an empty field. Sometimes these things happened. Not enough times that it would not cause me to retract myself and run off. I wasn’t one of the ones who found myself mingling with anyone let alone a god like creature like that body I had left behind.

I say body but I know it was a man. He was flesh and bones just like me however he was built like a god. Lean but muscular in the right way. He had a darkness to him that made me cower but also want to stay put but I knew that I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t lay there with him as if I belonged there. I didn’t. I didn’t belong anywhere exactly.

I suppose I should explain a little. One just doesn’t just end up in a field for no reason. I always find my way to one on the week of the full moon. I usually hide in trees until my process takes over and then I spent most of that night running to burn off all of the anxiety that forms.  I have another form as most of my kind do. A wolf, if you will.

I don’t shape shift into anything else. Just the wolf and back to my flesh body as I were born into it. I always thought it would have been weird if I came out as a fur ball not to mention the woman who gave birth to me probably would have been sent to some place unreachable. No, I was just tiny as I always had been upon my birth.

That was never a bad thing. It just made it that much easier for me to roam as I always did. I haven’t had anywhere to go for a really long time. I’m a bit of a nomad that way. It’s easier to leave things than to settle, or that’s what I had come to learn as I did what I’ve come to call my routine.

I’d find places to sleep in towns that no one ever came to and stayed a few nights before going to another and so on and on. Last night was different. I found my field and ran into the other wolf. I thought I’d have to show myself to the people in town. I never ventured into a place where there were known packs – or families of wolves. That always screamed trouble, no matter how I looked at it.

So, I avoided it at all costs but he snuck up on me seemingly having a run of his own. I didn’t know if he exactly cared that I was there. He seemed to just be roaming around without much of a care for anything when he came across me mid stride and then I stopped and we kind of sized each other up as most of our kind do.

He made the first move while I was froze in my spot. I’ve never really understood how any of this worked. There had been tales of mating between breeds of all kinds. I had never mated before. I didn’t know if I could attract the attention of anyone before while I was in this form. I got odd looks when I was in my flesh but I suppose that was more so to do with the fact that I usually had grime and dirt all over me from tumbling through forests and such. I never paid much attention to that.

Sometimes I didn’t I blacked out during my wolf nights. Last night was one of those nights. It had to be after he came around me and started sniffing me. After that it was a big blank. That’s why I was in the forest, throwing on my clothes and high tailing out of there. I didn’t know what to do in this situation.

I needed a shower too. I smelled like sweat and other not so sweet smelling things. I rushed up the way I had come and ventured down to a river that I had seen the day before when I was trekking. I crouched down next to it and cupped my hand under the water and splashed my face with it. Wetting my hair before deciding that as long as no one was around I might as well take a quick dip to try to get clean. As clean one could get with no soap. Water would do for today. I had to keep moving.

I kept going after I cleansed myself. It was hot enough today that my clothes would dry on my back and I crossed over to the other side, not looking back to see if I would find out who my wolf friend was or if he wanted to know who I was.

 

**Sherlock**

My shoulder ached. That was the first thing that clicked for me the moment I woke up back in the field. It was my safe place on a normal night in this town. I hated being around the rest of my family during it. They always tried to get me to do things that I just wasn’t interested in doing.

I drew in a deep breath before sitting up and stretching a bit. My whole skeleton felt like I had done more than the normal roaming. I could vaguely remember not being alone during the first moments of transformation. It was a bit dark after that. I got to my feet and tracked back down to the far end of the field where I left my bag of belongs. I hid it in the higher bits of flowers and grass just in case someone came by for some reason.

No one ever did, usually. Which is why it puzzles me that I vaguely remember another one being around me. I shook my head as I pulled on my pull over and pants. It was cool enough that I didn’t exactly need to put on my shoes just yet. The sun was barely starting to rise, I noticed as I tossed my almost empty bag over my shoulder and headed back up to the house which wasn’t too far from the fields. Everyone would be coming in for breakfast soon enough.

I just wanted to shower and maybe snag a cup of coffee if there was any left by the time I got there. All of my family had filtered in this week. I’d be lucky if I got a glass of juice, honestly. I couldn’t wait to move out and find an apartment in the Valley where interactions were sparse and kin were nonexistent.

I liked to be on my own. It’s always been that way.

As I walked up the back steps and opened the door that led through the large dining area I was greeted by a huge group of people laughing and stuffing their faces with food. Some of them stopped when I entered and shouted a hearty greeting.

One of my cousin’s Louis sidled up beside me and pulled me to his side by my shoulder, I winced but listened to what he said. “You got lucky, lad?” He chuckled.

“What?”

My brother, Mycroft turned his head from the farther end of the table and smiled at me. “You were with a young lady.”

I just blinked. “I don’t remember if I was.”

“You reek of a good time, Locky.” Bern, another one of my distant cousins laughed before tossing back a shot of what I suspected to be tequila. Some of us took a shot or two the day after to help with the pain that sometimes surfaced. I had stayed away for it for as long as I could. I was nearly of age now however, so I could possibly. I wouldn’t mind one this morning if what they were saying were true. It would explain the extra scorch of burning I felt in my shoulders.

I hummed as I took one of the shots that had just been poured and tossed it back. “Mummy upstairs?” I asked Mycroft who was getting up and heading towards the library more than likely to finish a few papers he didn’t get to.

“Yeah. She was asking about you last night before we all went out for the night. It’s probably best for you to go up so she can see you’re home and safe. She worries about you, brother.”

I nodded before walking up the large staircase to the upper floor where our parent’s room was as well as a few other bedrooms. Most of the guest rooms were below on the lower floor. I tossed my bag down in the doorway of my room on my way down the hall to the corner which I would have to take to get to my mother’s office. She had to be in there.

 

I smiled when I saw her as I got to the door. “Mummy.” I called to her as I leaned against the doorway.

“Sherlock, there you are. I was being to worry something had happened.” She told me as she got up from her spot by the window. She practically rushed up to me and grabbed me by the cheeks which I tried not to grimace at. I was nearly twenty one, she should know how much I hated the childlike attention.

“I’m here, clearly. Worrying would do nothing to help if something had happened.” I told her which I later regretted as she slouched down from off her toes and gave me the most saddening stare. Her eyes were watery and her lip quivered. I really hoped she wasn’t going to cry in front of me.

I had unconsciously made that happen a few times before and I couldn’t stomach the emotions that ran rampant afterwards. It was unsettling.

I quickly reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, gently. “Forgive me. I only meant that I’m fine and that I will always come home as long as I’m under this roof with you and everyone.”

“I know exactly what you meant. You’re so much like your father.” She said quietly as she took my hand off her shoulder and stepped back up towards me and kissed me on the cheek. When she came back to the ground she sniffed at me and her nose crinkled.

“Were you with someone?” She asked quickly, eyes brightening from its sadness like it was merely a mask. We all had ours however.

“Everyone keeps saying that. I don’t know, alright. I could have been.”

“What do you mean?”

“I blacked out.”

“Sherlock.” She said in a warning tone. I knew exactly what was coming next. I sighed. “Do we need to go see the Watson’s about that?”

“No, don’t be silly. It’s only some nights.” I quickly informed her.

“Still…you need to find this girl.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you remember the tale of how I met your father and…”

“How every wolf coming of age met their mate? Yes, I do remember. What does that have to do with anything?” I’m sure I looked confused but I didn’t say anything more about it.

“You need to find that girl.”

“Mummy.” I whined.

“Sherlock Holmes.”

I turned around and started back the way I came. I was tired of that fucking tale. It was a supposed legend and I don’t want to hear another second of it. It was just a story. I didn’t need anyone. I liked being alone. It was where I was most strong.

I didn’t need a silly girl who I may or may have been around during one of the nights in the field to change any of that.

It was decided.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

**Molly**

It was more out of habit than anything that my hand reached into the small crevice of my pocket and withdrew the folded piece of paper that had been read several times since finding it all those years ago. I didn’t know if I would ever forget how I came to find it. I moved it around in circles between my thumbs as I laid against the tree that I chose to sit under earlier on the day.

It was the only thing I had that held any significance to my life before I had had known anything of what I was or who I was supposed to become. I still very little about that. It wasn’t much of a choice – any of this, I knew. I just kind of rolled with it on my own. You can only do very little at the age of nine for yourself.

I opened my eyes and stilled my hands as I starred at the very worn piece of paper. It had the last words of the woman I had called “mum.” Or at least the last words she felt she was required to speak to me before leaving. She just kind of left one night and left me on my own. These were the last words of wisdom or encouragement that she felt I needed to know before everything was to begin. I still didn’t understand half of it. Not because it was too intellectual or difficult to read. Because she had been so vague about it.

Only a paragraph was penned down in a hurry. I still kept it near me despite how confused it made me. It was my connection to her and whatever else was left for me to figure out on my own. It was about me finding my place somewhere beyond the small cottage near the woods. I had figured that out just a few days short of starving.

I bit my lip as I unfolded the pages again and glanced at the words – her words another time. I could still hear the sound of her voice faintly as I muttered the words into the darkness of the starry night sky that was more visible tonight than any other night.

“ _Molly,_

_I am truly sorry for what I’ve done to you but it’s all for a good reason I promise you. It is something that was done to me when I was a little bit older than you. It’s something that has to be done in order for you to venture out and figure out your part in the story. We all have one. Take care of yourself, sweetheart. – Melanie Hooper / Mum_ ”

I had heard of the story only a handful of times from others just like me in the towns that I had crossed. Many of them married and with children but all who knew of my internal struggle. Each wore a similar smile upon my departure. It was one of those all-knowing expressions that only appeared to those who had experienced something similar.

It was more of a legend than any kind of fairy tale or story. Not all were chosen to go along with its prophecies and tales. However there was supposed to be two who couldn’t deter from it, even if they fought it with all of their might. It just didn’t seem like it was real some days, I felt and other days night fell and it made me wonder if I was involved in it. I’d end up laughing about it the next morning.

Tonight was one of those nights. I looked up at the stars and smiled, if only that were possible.

There was only that one guy who I ended up waking up to a few nights ago. It had been a surprise more than anything but I hadn’t thought much about it. There weren’t a lot of chances of encountering the same person twice. I was very careful about wandering back to the same area more than once. I never did it.

I couldn’t afford to be found out. It was one of the reasons why I found myself getting away from him before he awoken and saw me laying there curled up around him like some sort half crazed woman. Plus, it would have been more than a little awkward.

There were pieces of that night that I could recollect vaguely from before I completely blanked because of the wolf had taken over entirely. She did that most of the times and I just let her. I knew what she looked like and she knew me but we weren’t the same.

She had my hair color as a coat pigment. The orange looking auburn that swept along into deep browns. She could change it too if she was feeling more intense. She seemed to be a bit mellow most nights just happy to be able to move around freely outside of my headspace. I knew she was there but she was quiet, always. It was only on the nights that she was released did she ever really do much of anything.

It was a bit unsettling at times to think about that. I was supposedly two beings wrapped into one small body but I didn’t focus much on the oddity of that. I remembered my choice not to stay and become dead meat as another more powerful kin – not in the sense we were related by blood but that we both were among the wolf family that ranged far and wide, had gone rampant among a couple of children who had gotten lost near the town hall. I had to get out of there before something bad happened to me. Bad things seemed to follow me, however.

_He was large and dark. That was the first thing that came to mind as he sidled up against my flank and sniffed at me. I just stayed there unsure if he was a menace or someone that could possibly be safe to be around. I focused on the way he seemed to move around with less authority and more intrigue about me._

_He came around to stand in front of me, his snout coming to the outline of my jaw before he moved backwards so that he could actually view me as he had when he had come running out from the far side of the field. His head tilted briefly and I had half a mind to continue to stare at him. His eyes were a light blue or was that grey? I couldn’t tell even with the darkness of the night and the light from the moon lighting our wolves as I started towards him and then nothing._

I blinked open my eyes at the recollection. It was something that I usually ignored due to the lack of importance. I never met other wolves during transformation. It was another thing I avoided if I could. When I had been through that town I had seen nor felt any kind of danger.

It made me wonder whether or not my judgment was being messed with in some way. I had my fair share of issues with beings who crossed over from wolf to another supernatural. They shifted into two and that is what I call a monster. I try to not cross their paths. They are more than a little terrifying. I had met them twice and I’d much rather not do it again. It had been a bit tricky getting out of it when I hadn’t quite grasped the idea that sometimes my wolf could deny me help.

Those were the times when I hated all of this. The uncertainty was a bit aggravating.

I tucked the paper back in my pocket and got to my feet. I reached up the tree and begun to climb. I needed to try to get some rest.

 

**Sherlock**

I didn’t understand why Mycroft had to come with me to see the Watson’s. I wasn’t even going to ask them to do anything to regarding my blackout during my last transformation. I just wanted to sit with John – their son and not worry about any of the things that my family had going on. Or really what they wanted from me. I liked the peace that came with the although lesser in wealth but all around nice family that held the key to several ailments for human and non-human kind.

I had been told upon my first visit to them with my mother upon one of my first turns that I could come back for anything. They did a bit more than was required of them but that wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

Mycroft was sitting in the chair off to the side as Missus Watson checked my vitals much to my irritation. I just wanted some time away from all of this. A few hours after I disappeared from the house after mother started discussing the matters of the legend that she was hell bent on saying I was somehow a part of. I didn’t believe such foolish things. There were no proof and so I refused to indulge myself in such ridiculousness.

However sitting here in the company of the twenty one year old companion – John and his mother as they checked over me because they had gotten the call right before my own arrival. I sat there and let out a deep sigh as they asked me questions that I had answer to a few times before. The same answers as last time. It was all rather dull and tedious.

“Did you encounter anyone during your last change?” The older woman asked as I was buttoning up my shirt once more. It was a warm night, so I was wearing my crisp clean button up with the sleeves rolled up partially.

I tilted my head up and gazed at the woman with a bit of scrutiny. Why was she asking that?

“Yes…” I trailed off as I looked beyond her at her son to see if he had given away anything. I had mentioned much of anything to him since our last meeting in town for a few cups of coffee.

She hummed in thought as she walked over to the small table in the next room and began flipping through files. She had hundreds of those. Many books as well. I had never ventured over to that area because it was seen as source material all for the eyes of the doctors in the house which were all it’s inhabitances. I didn’t want to seem rude for prying into things I didn’t know very much about. If there was answer there however, I could take a look.

I hopped down from the wooden table I was sitting on and looked on at Mrs. Watson to see if she could give me any clue in her stance as to whether she had found something or merely checking over her facts to be sure. I think she had learned over the years that she served my family that we would know if she was bullshitting something over whether it was medically known as something that had been researched.

John shrugged in my direction as he walked into the cramped room with his mother and began talking to her. They spoke in hushed tones, I would have to be closer to them to be able to decipher what they were going on about. I stayed in my place observing them from afar before Mycroft stepped in the way and gave me one of his amused smiles.

“Why do you fight with mother so much, Sherly?” He asked me once I straightened up at his look.

“Don’t call me that.” I spat out. “I don’t fight with her. She just knows how to aggravate me with her silliness.”

“It’s not silly if it’s true, Sherlock.”

“How would you know if it’s true. You don’t even have another person to call your wife or husband.” I knew what that would do to him but I spoke to him as I always had. He too enjoyed aggravating me in ways that I only ever wished would stop. He always had to ask the questions that he knew would rile me up.

“That is my choice. This is about more than that, brother and you know it. You just refuse to settle your mind on things that you do not know of. I’m sure if you hadn’t experienced yourself then you wouldn’t have known that our kind existed either. Your doubt will hinder you in the long run.”

I said nothing as the Watsons both came back with a smile upon their faces. “You’re fine, Sherlock. Your wolf just likes to have a bit of fun without you knowing about it. It’s happened to many others before, several friends of mine. Not to worry, it will only take a conversation between the two of you to get that sorted out if it’s bothering you.”

“It’s not.” I told them as I grabbed for my coat and rushed out of the door. I still couldn’t get away from any of it. The idea that my wolf did things that were beyond my knowledge did nothing to quell my hatred towards what was unfolding here without me wanting it to.

I blamed this legend business. It was stupid and childish. I was not a child. I was fully capable of making decisions on my own. If I wished to do something, I would.

I would do something soon. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Well hello my friends. Here we have a new chapter of Entwined. A bit longer than the last two, yeah? I had certain things I knew had to happen in this one but I wasn’t entirely sure yet if I would change my mind about it. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this. I’m really loving writing this story. Thank you all for your eagerness to read more of it. I don’t own that quote in the beginning of the story. It’s one of those more commonly known quotes from one of literacy’s greatest authors. If you know who it is, bless you. Let me know what you think, please? I’ll see you all next time.  
>  much love  
> day**

3.

**Molly**

_“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”_ I read that in a book somewhere a few years ago when I thought going into a library was a good idea. It had been for a good few hours where I stayed hidden in between the bookcases of the more ancient literature. No one really ventured there unless they were a student looking for reference work. I knew a little about that.  I had gotten tossed out upon being found out soon enough. That was okay, I didn’t expect to stay there.

Not all times are hard for me. Sometimes I stumble upon a town that while it’s well rounded as far as what they have to offer in food and entertainment, surprises me with how pleasant they are to those who just trek in. The outsiders like me. One of these times happened three weeks after my last look at the little note in my pocket. The night I lay under the stars thinking of the legends.

The past three weeks have been difficult to say the least. I’ve spent more time trekking through the muddy grounds of the outlining woods and the rivers with little to no food. When you move around like I do, you don’t really have the support you need in income to get the things you read need. I’ve used the wilderness as my guide to finding small things to eat. I don’t have too much of an appetite most days but there are times when I feel like the hunger is entirely unbearable. If I can find an edible bunch of berries (non-poisonous, I check them), or any kind of fruit I’ll be okay for a little while. I stay away from hunting.

You would think that a wolf (wo) man would be okay with eating any kind of game. I happen to not wish for harm to any kind of animal. I’ll even help them if I see something dangerous approaching. It may mess up the circle of life, but I sometimes wish life wasn’t so tragic. Maybe that’s the human part of me. The part that doesn’t care much about the fact that on some nights I’m an animal myself. Granted not as vicious as my other kinfolk. I do run free in open spaces and I do albeit live vicariously through the wolf and unknowingly become almost graceful for a few long hours.

If you don’t already understand, I don’t really mind it anymore. It has been ten long years of getting used to living like this and I don’t think it would be easy to not live it. It’s too late to turn back.

I met a woman in this town by the name of Rachel Blume and she is probably one of the kindest people I have ever met. I had been standing behind a tree just people watching as I do always. Observing the way people interacted and what they did here. Some of them were just walking and holding conversations while others played around or did their jobs. Many stands full of food. If I was any other woman I’d probably take one or two when none of them were looking. I wasn’t not a thief. I was just rather hungry today.

Rachel was one of the walkers. I wasn’t too obvious about where I was standing. Several others had passed by but hadn’t paid me any mind. I have a feeling it might have been because of the “paint” that was smeared all over me. I was nearly caked in the brown substance of dirt, mud and earth.

She was an old woman that was one of the first things I noticed about her. Her hair a dark raven color was cut low enough on her neck that it wasn’t in the way. Her eyes a green that could only be described as a light emerald hue. A woven basket was in her hand and she just called out. “Follow me, child.”

I hadn’t moved at first. Thinking she was talking to someone else. She stopped when she had notice that I hadn’t been behind her. “You there, near the trees. Yes, I’m talking to you. Please come. You need a good washing and maybe a good shirt.”

I had a habit of not asking questions especially when I should. There was just something about Rachel that made me want to trust her. It could have been the idea that she – an old woman felt like she needed to help me. Having not had any kind of motherly influence besides the note that gave me so little in a guide, I needed her to not be a horrible person.

My hope was really a wish that had been granted. She had taken care for me the entire day and half that I would allow myself to stay there. She made sure that I got a good scrubbing. She laughed at me the first time she had walked in to the barn where she had me cleanse myself the first time she had come to check after me. I was rinsing off under the water of the large basin that she had filled up from the inside supply of water. She used a hose to fill it and had a fresh bar of soap lying on the little platform I stepped up to once I was bare and a wooden brush to scrub all the grime off myself.

It wasn’t long before I realized that she wouldn’t let me stay alone for too long. I spent time with her inside her own home, much to my own decline of that offer. She even went so far as to make up a couch for me to rest on. She lived alone. I thought it was nice of her to continue to want to be there for me when I was alone. I realized soon enough it could have been because we were one in the same.

Two souls finding their way on their own; alone.

I enjoyed my stay with her. I knew that I couldn’t stay for any more than one full day. I left after a small snack and begun to walk out towards the border that led into the next town. I wouldn’t stay there either, I would just pass through as I hoped to have done here. However, it didn’t seem as though luck was in my favor.

Before reaching town plaza, a large blocked off section of grass – almost a field was where trouble greeted me. I found myself in a circle of group of at least seven. Women and men, my age and a couple years older. All looked devious in their intentions. Eyes alighted with frightening delight at my sudden appearance. It didn’t take me long to be able to smell it on them. The wolves from the main branch. Their scent was much stronger than my own and they were ten times more dangerous.

I made the move to step back but realized that I couldn’t. One reached out for me before I could move back to the center. It was a woman with the fieriest of red hair. Her nails tore at my skin as she squeezed at my arm. “Oh, what do we have here? A lone wolf? I think we might actually have some fun today boys.”

I heard a couple yells of excitement.

I stiffen as she leaned towards me and sniffed. “You’ve recently washed up. Still doesn’t make you stink any less. You should have cleaned behind your ears more, doll.” She muttered as she pushed me into a bulkier man. I flinched seeing the red in his eyes. He was a mix breed. A wolf and something else. You don’t have eyes like that unless you have something more going for you.

I sucked in a deep breath trying to call for my wolf. She was ignoring me it seemed. This wasn’t good.

_The one time I need you. You decide to take a nap. Wake up!_

I was soon on the ground surrounded by not only the flesh but a couple newly transformed wolves. “It’d be much more fun if you’d turn.” It was the more bulky man talking to me. ‘ _Believe me I would if I could_ ’ I wanted to say to him. Instead I tried to find a loophole, a small space that I could rush out of. There wasn’t one. They were in a tight circle.

I stayed silently as they circled around me. It wasn’t long though that the patience of the animals wore thin. One latched on my leg, then another on my arm. This were not “show me that you trust me” bites, these were I want to slaughter you and then consume you for dinner bites.

My wolf must have come round at some point because before I knew it I felt this odd sense of calmness come over me and I was unconscious. I was no longer feeling like I was being hacked a part bit by tiny bit. It felt nice. I welcomed the darkness for one of the first times.

 

**Sherlock**

As much as I cared for my family, sometimes being around them got to a point where I had to take off for a few days. I’d leave for no more than three to some place they wouldn’t look. A small town with welcoming faces or carnival in a much larger town where there would be a contest that I would focus on to get out any of the vicious anger that I was keeping at bay.

I was on the second day of my small vacation, my phone had been left at home and probably found last night after many phone calls or text messages had been attempted to be sent. It was a nuance. If they really wanted to find me all they had to do is send out one of my cousins to come find me. They were quite good at finding lost things. Many of the girls and some boys that they found to play with as they said weren’t missing from anyone.

I was uncomfortable with all of that. I would automatically leave the room if they started talking about such scandalous things. It wasn’t good. I could pretend all that I want that I wanted something better than this, that I didn’t want to be a part of it but the truth was that without it I wouldn’t be able to do some of the things that I was planning to do. You have to have a name to be able to do things. I know that I could find a way around it but it was just easier being a Holmes. I was born into it.

I was born into a lot of things. One of the many things was something I was currently running away from and searching for all at the same time. If I just did this one thing maybe I could get on with what I wanted. I wanted a lot of things. However, there were ten more things that were weighing on my back. They all were plans that I didn’t want.

The thought of loneliness to many was a frightening venue that seemed to be difficult for others to handle. I welcomed it. I just needed my thoughts, they were always trickling into one another. Idea upon idea of new things I could do. Experiments that I could try. Methods I could approach. New horizons that I have yet to reach. There was so much material there. With this legend business getting more and more insistence by nearly everyone who I came around it seemed that there was only one logical choice. Get rid of the problem. Running away sounded as good as any, I admit. Which was why I was here roaming around this area lined with wooden stands full of fruits, fish, meat shops, jewelry stands and the like. It was almost like stepping back into an old time. A town of markets, it was oddly refreshing.

The smell of it brought me an odd semblance of peace. Peace wasn’t something I often found, however. Most days were chaotic and it seemed that today seemed to be one of the many where I couldn’t just have one to enjoy the calmness of it all. I craved it more lately. I liked to be stimulated on most days, I did have my time for breaks. That’s what these outward excursions were for. Today it was ending.

I was being pushed in the direction of a place past the stands and vendors offering such delicacies. No one was behind me, nor in front of me. I felt like I was being dragged unwillingly this way. I wanted to shout. That would bring attention to myself. I had done everything to not have that happen. I dressed in my street clothes. My wild curls a bit more unruly than usual. I looked like any normal male would if he wasn’t from a wealthy family. It was a façade of sorts. I wore it many days out of the month.

This was the wolf’s doing. He was trying to get me to go somewhere. I didn’t wish to go. I wanted to stay put among the kind faces and the smell of the food. I actually wanted to eat this day. It wasn’t always my priority.

I managed to shut my eyes and focus on pushing him away for a brief moment to be able to duck between a set of stacks of lumber where no one was around. I took in a shaky breath. _What are you doing?_ I asked it mentally, trying to figure out whether that talk I should have had with it weeks ago needed to happen now.

It just growled at me and with that came an odd sense that this once I might need to listen to it. He looked feral and angry. He was me on my worst days. I had begun to wonder what exactly it was that was pissing him off when I felt the heated warmth begun to shake me. _NO. Not here. I can’t do this here._

He ignored me, stretching out and getting in position to do what he wanted. He always had to do what he wanted. What was he trying to do today? I lied when I said I didn’t want to know a few weeks ago. He couldn’t come out in daylight like this.

I yelled at it as I managed to toss off the clothes that I had on, my bag tossed to the side as well. It was all rather a quick process. I got down on my hands, my knees hunched as if I was getting ready for a run and then it began. The change from flesh to beast. It was hard to describe what it was like. The burning covered your limbs, yours bones twisted to a new being. An animal emerged and you either were still conscious or you weren’t.

Today, the pain was bearable and I made it through the mental barrier that always seemed to hinder me. I couldn’t really admit to myself or anyone really but it made me feel weak. Not being in control of what was happening. The wolf and I had different views on what was right and what was wrong. He was free and I was merely its vessel. A place for it to rest until it wanted out.

It wasn’t just on the nights when the full moon could be seen. Not for me. I could turn if I wanted to. I just rather not. It was in the blood of the Holmes. The purest blood of the one of the largest packs in the history of the hierarch of all kinships. How I hated it.

It took me minutes to get past the cloudiness of sharing the capacity of the brainwork of the wolf. It was always there usually when I was flesh, a dull notion in the back of my mind. Now the roles were switched. I sat here in this dark space of one constant thought, PROTECT. Protect whom?

We were sharing the same pair of eyes. The blue-greys that I inherited from my father. We were rushing as one to some place that wasn’t too far. I noticed that there was something in the teeth of the beast/of me. The strap of my backpack.

At least, I thought fleetingly he thought to bring that. I don’t know if I would remember where it was. I had my spare change of clothes in there. It made me wonder if he collected data like I did. Did he remember things? Or was it just me holding on to something good in all of this?

It was unsettling.

We came to a halt, there were seven wolves taking nips at one that lay on the ground. Wait…that wasn’t a wolf. It was a woman. They weren’t taking flesh but they were attacking in a way that the red messy liquids that I saw coming from them was obviously blood.

The sound of the growl vibrating from my being was vicious and he didn’t stop at the growl. He started moving. In a flash we were in many heated dances all that seem to end with more large claws than I could humanly count. I could feel the waves of pressure from the bites and scratches that I had gotten as well. The wolf seemed to have ignored it as he kept on going. Taking them all out. I couldn’t have been sure at first but as he approached the woman my head wasn’t there. My eyes wanted to look at them. The wolves and see if it was the truth. Had I killed them? If I was in the right mind I would probably tell myself it wasn’t me. I am not in control. That has the problem the entire time. He killed them. I killed them. They are dead. They are DEAD! I wanted to shout at it, and tell him that that was stupid. For a silly woman? Who you don’t even know! Are you mad, man?

He wasn’t a man. He was an animal. The word PROTECT vibrated the entire time that he fought with them. It had changed now. There was a familiar numbness now. We moved as one, slowly moving towards the woman who was still. Was she dead too?

I could hear the whines of the wolf as he nuzzled her. His snout nudging her, trying to get a reaction. She lay there still. I waited, closing my eyes for a moment to concentrate. To listen and hear for what I needed right now. A heartbeat, a pulse. I needed some form of semblance for this. If we saved her would it be worth it to have slayed seven of my own kind? Could I cope with that?

As he continued to nuzzle her and her hair moved away with the wind that had begun to whisk away around us. An image came to me. She wasn’t just a woman. She was something familiar. I had met her. I had been with her many nights ago.

I sighed internally as the wolf lap at her face seemingly happy with what he found. She was breathing. She was still there. Her eyes were closed but she seemed to still be holding on even with all of the marks covering her.

I’m not sure which one of us acted here but soon her shirt was in between the teeth and a moment of struggle before a weight was upon the back of us and we were moving again. Unto where? I didn’t know. What would I do then? I didn’t know.

I let the wolf do the work for now. I needed to take a moment to collect myself and think over all of this new data. I didn’t believe in coincidences but, maybe if I did she was it.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

**Molly**

There were plenty of things that you were supposed to experience when you were dying or dead but I don’t think relief is one of them. The dust of the dirt on the ground that I was grasping when I first fell down and felt the pieces of flesh being tore piece by piece from my body wasn’t what I could grasp onto either. Wherever I was it was soft and fluffy and inviting.

Along with this new comfort there was still pain. My entire body felt stiff and untangle-able. I could breathe though and that was good. There wasn’t much else that I knew of for my eyes were shut and I didn’t know if I wanted to see what was around me yet. I just felt relatively strange. As if this wasn’t right. Being alive, that is.

I should be happy to still have a beating heart, body and all of that. Instead I felt out of place. It wasn’t like I actually look forward to dying, especially not in that way but I suppose there was this part of me that had been okay with the near end of my life. It even sounded strange to me.

I got sick of thinking quite a lot so I opened my eyes and nearly jumped when I felt a pair of eyes on me. To make matters worse, when I got ready to make a run for it by jumping out of the window I had a body on me and the icy orbs of that man from the field staring at me. Before I could even begin to start asking questions I tried to knock him off of me by way of kicking him in a very private place when I felt his body pressing me into the mattress a bit firmly. Then he was talking. “Relax.” He said lowly, I was rather tense, wasn’t I?

“Who are you?” I asked him as my fight or flight sense was really at its all time high right now. I knew him from that night in the field but I didn’t think that counted as something you should mention to a guy who was currently pining you down with all of his weight so that you wouldn’t try to get away. The question in my mind of why I was here or where was here arose once again.  

“I should be asking you the same.” He moved back just slightly as his eyes started to roam around my face. I hadn’t the slightest clue what he was trying to look for. I doubt I had written my name on my face. That did happen before…I was drinking with some bikers along the coast of Ireland and things happened. Not one of my proudest moments nor was the fact that I was currently feeling very violated by a guy who I didn’t really know but had gotten to know in a way that was less than a little innocent. I chose to put that in the back of mind as I asked him another question. “Where am I at or…maybe you could tell me why you are insist on me staying right here in what I suspect is your room…in your bed? What day is it?” I continued to ask questions as my mind seemed to be revving up a bit more after the adrenaline started to kick in a bit more at this close proximity.

He tilted his head to the side as he eased up off of me enough that he was sitting with his heels arched up so that he was perched at an angle. He was still hovering which didn’t make me any less tense about this whole situation. I pushed myself up so that I was sitting up and folded my legs not taking my eyes off of him. "Well?” I asked him, still waiting for him to talk.

“I rescued you from those wolves, or at least a part of me did and once I was able to rein in control I brought you here to my family’s home. It’s Thursday, you’ve been here for nearly five days and no one knows that you are here besides me. I brought you through the window when I changed back.” I could tell by the way his face kept alternating between this neutral unattached look to one of discomfort that he didn’t like to talk about the fact that he was at least part wolf. I could understand it seeing as I too was someone who was also confined with the same though. However I wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable with it as he was. I was still trying to figure out what to do with it all seeing as I wasn’t as strong as most of them.

I suspected he was one of those who was very strong. He was fast too. “I’ve been asleep for five days…” I spoke aloud. It wasn’t something I really was thinking about it was just such something happen unconsciously. “Anyway why not tell your family that you keeping a girl in your room for nearly a week? Don’t you think they’ll get suspicious that you’re holed up in your room?” I mumbled quickly as to dodge anymore questions from him about my mentality or whatever was going on with me. I didn’t feel like getting into any of that.

“Not really. I hole myself up here a lot especially if I just happened to come back from disappearing for a few days. That’s what I was doing when I _found_ you.” The way he said found made me think that he hadn’t just stumbled across me. Had he been searching for me or did it just happen? “And before you ask, no I wasn’t looking for you. Someone else was…” He grumbled folding his arm as his legs fell down in front of him and he leaned against the edge of the bed which was surrounded by wood that was shaped to fit the bed and not let him fall off of it no matter how much he leant back. “You need to shower.” He said after a few moments of silence on both our parts.

“No really, I hadn’t noticed my stench.” I told him as edged my way off the bed and plopped down off onto the floor. It was a rather high up bed, I could see the amount of lumber placed under it. How clever.

“No, that was not what I was referring to all the same…follow me.” He stated as he flipped over backwards to land flatly on the boards that made up the floor. A resounding thud could be heard but he ignored it as he picked up a stack of clothes and headed towards the door of his room which I hadn’t realize until closer inspection had a latch above the door knob. He unlatched it and held it open for me before walking the hall to what I could only suspect was the bathroom.

He handed me the clothes he had carried with him as he ushered me into the bathroom. “Towels are in the cabinet along with any toiletries you might need. I’ll be down stairs.” He turned around to leave after telling me that. I called out to him anyways. “You mean you actually want me to be around your family. I was under the impression that you were hiding me away.” I giggled.

I heard him grunt before he disappeared from my eye sight. I stepped back into the bathroom and shut the door. I did need a shower. It did help how nice the shower was too. I would definitely use it.

 

**Sherlock**

I’ve never taken to new people all that well. People in general were idiotic. This girl, whoever she was a bit more unnerving than the rest of them. There were things about her that seemed familiar and that was frustrating because I didn’t know how I was supposed to figure out what to do with her. That’s why I had just kept her in the room. Not because I cared what any of my family thought of it. I knew there would be several different discussions about it the moment she resurfaced from getting cleaner. She wasn’t necessarily dirty. She just smelled…different. It was both in the way someone smelled when they hadn’t bathed in days but also there was something else. She just seemed different and I didn’t know how to categorize her.

That was usually an easy feat for me. However everything about her was a huge mystery to me beyond the image that I could remember from the small bit of consciousness I had during one of my previous transformations when I took to the field. She had been there. I couldn’t recall if she was also changed or not. I just knew that she had been around. Her eyes were a big part of that image. They were brown and widened when she was startled which I suppose was something that I had done again just a few moments ago.

I climbed down the stairs while quickly discarding the thoughts of the woman who was currently showering upstairs and instead headed for the kitchen to grab some coffee. I was feeling very drained all of sudden. I had been awake for a few days now. It was normal to feel weak physical but I didn’t want to sleep right now. I had much more important matters to discuss and the first came as I was waiting for my coffee to brew. I positioned myself against the counter as I did and shut my eyes.

“Sherlock, you reek. Where have you been?” One of my cousins was still around apparently. I would have thought most of them had left for their own homes by now. That’s was what usually went on after the main transformation that took place here. However, here sat Lee, one of the younger ones eating a bowl of cashews.

“Out. I just got back and what do you mean?”

“Have you been around a mutt or pack of mutts because you smell disgusting.” He stated throwing his hands everywhere. His light brown hair swayed with his movements. I just rolled my eyes at him but stopped when I realized what he just said. “Maybe I was. I’ve been away for a little while. Why aren’t you with Aunt Mae & Uncle Jerome?”

“Oh, they’re coming back over in a few minutes. Your mom went out with them to look for something. I didn’t feel like tagging along so.” I nodded, disinterested in any of that but was slightly relieved to know my mother was gone from the house for the time being. I knew what she would do the second she lay eyes on the girl. I had been trying to avoid that in the first place.

I served myself some coffee in my favorite dark blue mug and then moved over to the refrigerator. I knew that other people usually got hungry in the mornings. So, I figured she would be. We had plenty as far as food went but I didn’t know what she would like so I grabbed the square container of fruit and headed towards the back door.

I almost forgot about the fact that she probably would come down soon so I turned back to the kitchen and made a request of Lee to tell her where I’d be. After he confirmed that he would I head back that way, sipping my coffee once I was settled at the table that sat on the corner of the area where Mummy’s plants sat surrounding the side of the house.

By the time I was nearly finished with my cup, she appeared clean and dressed. Her hair looked to be more than a little bit damp but she was smiling. “Your family has a large house.” She commented as she chose to sit on the steps that led out into the yard rather than one of the two vacant chairs that were at the table. I stood up and handed her the plastic tub of fruit, nodding at her observation before heading back inside for a moment for another cup.

I came back out quickly and settled down next to her despite the dirt that more than likely would gather on my clothes. I turned to examine her as I started on my second cup. I had given her a pair of denim shorts that I still had from when I was younger and a white t-shirt that I usually slept in. One of the nicer ones anyway. I could faintly hear my mother in my head when I was gathering the clothes “You should always treat ladies with respect no matter if you find them appealing or not. It’s nice to kind to them.” It’d be the one time that he heeded her advice about something in regards to the opposite sex.

She looked nice. “What’s your name? You never did answer me that.” I told her as she continued to eat the cut up pieces of fruit that were in there. It was one of the ones that held more berries than anything else. She liked the strawberries the most, I noticed. A favorite, possibly?

“Neither did you tell me yours.” She shrugged as she muttered, “Molly.”

“Do you have a last name? Nearly everyone does. My name is Sherlock Holmes.”

“Sherlock…” She mumbled as if she was testing it. “That’s a unique name. I’ve heard of your last name. I can’t remember where. I’ve been to plenty of places. Is it required that you know my last name?” She inquired while plopping another strawberry into her mouth and looking up at me.

Before I could get an answer someone else spoke from behind us. I turned quickly the second I heard what was said. “You brought a mutt back home, what have I told you about bringing strays brother.” Mycroft had a smile on his face but I could tell by the look that Molly was shooting him that she knew that it wasn’t genuine.

“I thought you’d be off again, Mycroft. Got wars to stop and all of that.” I told him instead of answering his question. He knew how I felt about him calling people things like that.

“Not yet. I’m leaving tonight though, probably. Where’d you go this time? None of my contacts could find you.” He said with clear irritation in his voice.

“That was the idea. I don’t need your mongrels tailing me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

Mycroft let out a sigh as his eyes drifted back over to Molly who had closed the small square bowl with a click and sat in between us. She didn’t look all that bothered by the fact that no one was really paying her much attention. At least she wasn’t one of those girls. Not like someone I know. I would give her that at least.

“Who are you?” Mycroft asked aloud, obviously he was talking to Molly.

She stood up at that moment and walked down the steps and turned back to answer him. “No one, really. Your brother just helped me out that’s all. Thanks for that by the way.” She shot me a smile before turning around and beginning to walk away. I shot up and rushed after her. Grabbing her wrist when I got close enough to and pulled her so that she was facing me. “Where are you going?” I asked.

“Dunno.”

“I still have your things upstairs. Besides, I still need to ask you some things.”

“Why?”

“Yes, why Sherlock?” Mycroft had come down to meet us formally seeing as he had just been hanging by the back door when we were sitting.

“I just have things we need to discuss that’s all.” Molly must have seen the look I was giving her because she straightened up a little. I needed her to stay for a little longer.

“Right.” She mumbled as she slipped her hand out of my grasp and slid her hands back into her pockets.

“Mother won’t be happy. She’s a mutt for crying out loud.” Mycroft uttered, his teeth grinding as he shot a disapproving look at Molly who just looked confused not hurt in the slightest.

“You don’t know that. Why do you care?”

“You should of all people should know I don’t care. It’s merely a slight interest in the matter.”

“Take your interest somewhere else. I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you?” My brother challenged as he took a step towards me. “Yes.” I told him just as the sound of loud chatter could be heard from inside of the house. I turned my head to Molly who merely looked towards the house, it didn’t look like she had decided whether to go inside or not. She was just standing by, waiting for something to happen. That thing whatever it was must have begun when my mother came out with a smile on her face and Mycroft was quick to move back to the deck fifteen feet away to greet her.

I felt a small tug on my shirt and turned back to Molly. “What did he mean…a mutt? What’s that?”

“It’s just a phrase they use for wolves that aren’t pure blooded.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” She questioned.

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. However it seemed one of my family members were listening in and decided to come to my aid, not that I needed it. Especially not from my mother who decided to come welcome Molly for her own personal reasons.

“It can be, I suppose but I don’t think you have anything to worry about yet.” She paused briefly as looked her over. “You’re Molly, a _friend_ of Sherlock’s?” She questioned.

Molly looked up to me and then back to my mother’s. “I suppose.”

My mother gave her a large smile which basically spoke volumes to what was going to happen next. “Perfect, come inside. I’d love to have a chat.” Before I could even begin to intercede on Molly’s behalf for several aggravating reasons – one of the many being the fact that I still needed to talk to her about everything, she was being ushered into the house by my mother who had taken her hand and begun to pull her along purposely.

I let out a groan, as I rushed behind them. This could get very complicated. 


	5. Chapter 5

5.

****

**_Molly_ **

It was like watching a tennis match, waiting for one of the servers to take a misstep or falter in one way or another. Except - this felt more like a street match where anything goes. Someone could get assaulted with the ball which was small in comparison to the two who metaphorically held weapons in this set. Instead there was two men who both had their own trophy to protect. In this case it seemed almost baffling to say that I was one no matter how slight to Sherlock while his brother was using words that I hadn’t the slightest clue of the mean. He kept calling me “defective" and “damaging" and Sherlock was telling him along with his mother who for some reason had come to the conclusion that I should stay around in order to get some of information I’ve been seeking about my history and maybe make some connections to fulfill the prophecy of the legend. 

The woman hadn’t had to tell me in exact words that she wanted me to stick around to try to get cozy with her son…but it was the subtext that I could read all too well. It had happened before with someone else. Granted, I hadn’t possibly shagged that man during one of my transformations - which I must add I still haven’t the slightest idea of whether it actually happened. It’s just the common misconception between everyone that I’ve met so far in this place. 

Basically, since I fucked Sherlock he wants me. This has not happened before and so I’m some kind of gem that is rare in quality. Truth be told, I think it makes everything ten times more uncomfortable. Being around someone you know you possibly boned and didn’t even know. It was worse than if you had been married and had intercourse for the first time. 

This was another reason why I suspected that his brother wasn’t taking too kindly to me being around here. That and the fact that I wasn’t pure like everyone here. I was the only _mutt_  around here and obviously that wasn’t okay at least in his eyes. He thought I was dangerous. 

Perhaps, he was right. What did I exactly know about what I was to begin with? I think that’s why I hadn’t just taken off already. Well besides the fact that Sherlock had pleaded with me non-verbally with his eyes to stick around when I tried to get away the first time.

That’s why I felt it was necessary to clear my throat at the most opportune time when it seemed like one of the brothers were about to lunge at each other’s throats and possibly take out an eye out or at the very least go for the jugular. 

"No. I’m pretty sure both of you are idiots and should have no say in what I do. However, in case any of you were wondering…I do think I may stick around another day just because I am allowed to do that and I was asked."

"By whom?" 

"I do believe Sherlock might have asked her to but also…I did." Both boys turned to the one who spoken and both blurted out at the same time a single word. “Mummy?!"

“If I didn’t know any better I would think you were actually shocked.” She replied, smiling a little. “Now if you are both through being children I’d like to talk to Molly, alone. That was my intention when I walked outside to greet her upon being told she had been sleeping in your room, Sherlock for the past few days.”

Sherlock opened his mouth briefly before closing it once again. I tried not to seem too happy with the way she had gotten him to grow very uncomfortable. “Fine.” He stated after many glances between the two women in the room. It was clear to me that he didn’t exactly want to leave me in the room with his mother especially with the idea of whatever he felt she was trying accomplish on her own. It was safe to say that Sherlock looked more likely to grab my wrist and flee from the site without little regard but there seemed to be some sort of change when it came to his mother that made him slowly retreat out of the room, pulling his older brother by his jacket all the while. “You’re not staying.” He told him confidently.

I tried to hide my amusement behind my hand but it didn’t seem to be necessary as their own mother let out a giggle that came out rather jovially. “They have always been like that. Tell me, Molly how did you come to know Sherlock?”

I hesitated, not really sure as to which version of the story I should tell. The one where we met because he saved my life or the actual truth – or at the least the version of the truth that would probably make it ten times more complicated; I didn’t know. I chose one of the three versions as she stood and walked around the room which I now had more than enough time to glance about. There were old photographs placed along the walls that she stepped along, her hands passing each one as she took pause to look at each of them. “He saved me a few days ago but I’m not entirely sure. I was unconscious at the time.”

“Is that how you ended up in his bed for those few days that no one was aware of your appearance?”

“I think so. I haven’t really had a chance to really talk to Sherlock about anything. I think that’s probably what he wants to discuss...later.” I tact that last bit on, still unsure of anything when it came to him or what I was truly doing here. Or even if I actually was going to stay. I had said that merely to get them to be quiet. Now, I was sitting in a room with the woman who seemed more curious about who I was by the second.

She came to a stop next to me. I tensed a moment, not ever really liking to be too close to people without knowing their intention. I waited with baited breath to see what she would do or what she would say. “Is that the story you’re going to go with then, dear?”

“What do you mean?” I lifted my head and stared at her directly in the eyes, not backing down from whatever it was she was implying about me. “A few weeks ago Sherlock went out into the fields as he always does when it’s time for the full moon transformation, we have many others seeing as we are…different than you are but regardless he always goes despite the fact that as a family and a pack we all assemble her together and turn together. When he came back the next morning he smelled odd. Odd for him but not odd in any other way. He smelled of sweat and well…to put it indelicately sex. However, he claimed he didn’t know anything of it. Do you know any of it?”

I blinked at her, blankly. Instead of denying it I just smiled at her. “I honestly don’t know. Nor do I really care about the matter. I’m not here to stay. I’m only here to give a few answers to Sherlock and then I’ll be on my way. After that…you won’t have to worry about me and your dear boy who I’m guessing got lost in the animalistic nature of his wolf…or maybe he wasn’t even aware of anything. That tends to happen. Regardless, you can’t change that.” It would seem like I was trying to come off as if I was challenging her but that wasn’t the case. I was merely saying how I truly felt on the matter. She was pressing me for details that I wasn’t even sure existed.

“You remind me of someone that I used to know before all of this ever happened. She was protective of herself, just like you. What’s your last name, Molly?” Sherlock’s mother had moved to sit across from her on the arm chair that sat at an angle slightly turned towards the fireplace.

I bit my lip, trying to decide whether to give her any more information about myself. I had already admitted that I didn’t plan on staying her any longer than necessary. It should have been clear to her that I wasn’t planning on giving her any more ammunition to use against me for whatever she was vying for. As I got ready to move and possibly jump out the window which was open to my right or to exit out the door, a voice came from a speaker in her lap. She had a phone in her lap. I didn’t even see it. “Hooper. She’s a Hooper mummy.” The distinct voice of Sherlock’s brother Mycroft filtered through.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s my job to know these things.”

“You think I’m a threat.”

“Good. At least you’re not entirely lost, Miss Hooper.”

“Mycroft!” Another voice crackled through the phone which the woman sitting across from me was now holding up to her face. I leant forward a bit despite the fact that I couldn’t exactly see what was going on with the two brothers. Sherlock’s voice was familiar to me.

“Boys, I told you to go away which means that you Mycroft can’t just use whatever technology you feel you must to get your way. I am have a discussion with Molly. If she didn’t want me to know her name, she hadn’t needed anyone else to give it to me. Now excuse us while we continue on without the both of you eavesdropping.” It took me all of five seconds to react afterwards as she threw the device which I now realized was no phone and break it with the heel of her shoe. It shattered under her shoe.

“Hooper. Molly Hooper. I know that surname for some reason. Is that your mother or father’s name?”

“I believe you gave me the option not to comment on it. I think I will take you up on that. I will say one more thing before I go.” I slowly got to my feet, towering over her seated position. “Whatever it is you’re trying to usher Sherlock into you should probably make sure it’s something he’s okay with before you cause him anymore harm. You might not have hurt him at all, but to me it seems like he’s a little lost himself. Maybe I’m wrong, I just felt like I should say it while I was still here.” My shoulders lifted a bit as I shrugged turning away from the look of distaste on the older woman’s face as I strolled out of the room and slipped out the door.

Not even two minutes passed before I was joined by Sherlock who wore a different shirt. I looked up at him as he trained his blue orbs on me. I waited for him to ask me what had went on after the connection between the two way speaker that had once been useful had been shattered. Instead he turned me around slightly with his arm lightly pressed against my back. We were walking…away from the house.

 

**Sherlock**

It was strange being around someone for so long and not being able to detect what they would do. I usually was able to at least try to decipher what they were thinking and why. Not because I wanted to but people were rather obvious about everything. Well, not entirely true. Molly was not anywhere near that category. She was a near unknown subject to me. The most I knew about her was that we had met before and that she like I was a werewolf. However that is where it ends. I was finding reasons for why I wished that we were in opposite places. She in my shoes and I and hers.

It was naïve and ridiculous but I had very logical reasons for thinking about it. I wished to be free. I wanted to be away from all of this constraint that I felt I was under more and more daily. Molly was searching for something and was easily able to slip from view without anyone questioning her about it. I think that’s one reason why I still had her near me. Because I asked her to talk to me, I didn’t think she got that often enough from people. I’m sure people have asked her to stay before. Someone like her – ask for little, want less, quiet, good company. I had stumbled onto that last one within the past couple minutes (fifteen had passed since leaving the house) as we entered the market. It was a little place lined with vendors of all kinds. I guided her along the fruits and vegetables first not really interested in them really but it was the less crowded place.

I turned to watch her as her eyes gazed at the fruit. She seemed to like those if the nearly empty tin of strawberries at the house was any indication. She eyed the apples for a moment as we passed it and I stopped. “Do you want some?” I asked her, smiling slightly.

She shook her head and started to walk ahead. I rolled my eyes at her actions. It was clear that she did but was trying to not make a big deal over it. I turned to the man who was behind the stand and told him that I wanted three and handed over what it cost me and then I dashed off to find Molly. She hadn’t gotten that far. She waited for me near the next set of stations which were all tables covered in tapestries and jewels. They weren’t jewelry sellers however despite that being most of what was visible. These where the voodoo queens, gypsies, and fortune tellers stayed during the day. Trying to lure unsuspecting prey in to tell them what they thought they wanted to hear and sometimes cast a curse on a fool who were one of the naïve other kinds who were intrigued.

Molly hadn’t moved anywhere near them however. She looked a bit pale in the face, actually. I took her hand and handed her one of the apples. “Eat it.” I told her as I stowed one of the others in my pocket and took a bite as the other one. She eyed it carefully with a frown on her face. “I told you that I didn’t want one.”

“You were lying.” I told her as I swallowed another big bite. “C’mon.” I told her instinctively reaching out for her hand as we passed all the hissing women behind the tables. They knew what we were and Molly seemed to grow unease at their foul attitude towards her. “Their kind don’t particularly like weres all that much. Then again anyone who is not like them is bad to them.”

“They’re not all the same though so how can they know what is on whose heart.”

“Sentiment. It’s best to not let it rule your head…especially in these parts.”

“Sentiment?” She questioned as she finally took a small bite of her juicy red apple. I finished mine a while ago and had tossed the core away in a bin that was on the outskirts of the area. We were closer to the delis and grocer’s market which would could go inside if we had anything to buy. We didn’t, so I opted to circle back through to the seamstress and medics.

“It’s a chemical defect found on the losing side. It doesn’t ever help anyone…lest of all me. Which is why I enjoy logic so much.”

“You like science, don’t you?” She asked me suddenly. I’m sure my ears might have perked up a bit at that but I hid my enthusiasm slightly. “Yes…” I trailed off as I eyed her more closely until she had all but turned her gaze from me. That might have been a little bit too long.

“What did you want to want to talk about…earlier when I was going to leave?” She asked him quietly. Her hands slid into the pocket of the shorts that he had given her earlier.

I waited until we were off into more isolated territory before I answered her with a sigh. “What do you remember of the night we met the first time?”

Molly stopped short. “Why does that matter?”

“I don’t remember it. I’d like to know details…if you have any that you can recall.”

She ran a hand through her hair. “Um, not much really. I hadn’t turned yet, but you were already in your wolf form and you came up to me…or it’s your wolf. You looked like you were about to charge at me but you just came up around me and sniffed me a bit and then you stood back in front of me and I reached out to touch your muzzle. I don’t really remember much after that. I woke up the next morning and well…we were in a rather messy situation.”

“Messy, how? Be specific.” She turned to look at me with a blank expression on her face. She was eyeing me as if she was trying to decide something herself.

“We were naked and…entangled a bit but not so much that I couldn’t extract myself.” She said awkwardly.

I could feel my face heat up a bit, but I just shook it off. “Right. So you left.” She nodded to confirm my statement. “Then I found you again when I was out and away from my family. Not willingly…exactly.”

She folded her arms as she listened to me to tell her about the trouble with my wolf and the state she had been in before I brought her home with me. “He seemed concerned for your wellbeing. So much so that I’m sure I probably killed a few other wolves. They weren’t good, I know that but…it wasn’t me.”

“I’ve done it before too.” She admitted after a moment, she adverted her gaze from me. I had a feeling that was something that she had never confessed to anyone. It seemed that she struggled a bit with matters as well. It was a start at least.

We stood there a little longer before Molly turned back around and I followed for a little while. We had a few things out in the open but there was still much more I needed to know. It was enough for the moment so I let her go when we got back to the house. She had disappeared for a while, though I knew she was still around just not anywhere near people or in the house.

It had gotten dark by the time I slipped out the house to look for her just to be sure that she was alright. She seemed a bit more closed off after our discussion not that I could be too sure about any of that. Molly was rather quiet at times but I had a feeling her fire might have crept up earlier during her talk with my mother. From what she had mumbled before I headed out to meet Molly, the girl was on a different level than any of the others who might have tried to seek for his attention, not that he had notice much.

“There you are.” I stated as I sat down against the tree that she had been lying under when I came across her. She was looking up at the sky which albeit a bit cloudy had the deep blue of the night sky and little sparkles from the stars and constellations that flitted over it. She seemed content, but looked over at me briefly before looking back up at the sky.

“Here I am. Were you looking for me?”

“Not really.” I’m sure my face was a bit scrunched up at the admission but that didn’t change anything. “What’s so fascinating about those things?” She looked back at me to see what I was referring to. She looked at my hand and where they were pointed – to the sky.

“They’re a constant. They don’t change, much. Plus, it’s nice to look at before going to sleep.”

“Do you do this often?” I found myself continuing to ask questions.

“Sometimes. A bit silly, probably.” She sighed.

“Not, entirely. I just don’t see the point.” My hands were folded in my lap, padded a little out of restlessness.

She didn’t say anything for the moment. “Do you think you’ll stay for more than a day?” I asked her out of nowhere. I didn’t know what made me ask that entirely but I realized that it might have been because I genuinely was curious as to what her answer was going to be.

“I don’t know.” She paused briefly, her eyes fluttering closed a little. I watched her for a moment not sure if she was going to sleep or what I was supposed to do now that I was here sitting next to her, again. “Do you want me to stay, Sherlock?”

I heard myself echo her words back to her. “I don’t know.” 


	6. Chapter 6

6.

**Molly**

I don’t believe it would surprise anyone if I openly admitted to being afraid of something. Living how I have been for quite some time I had a collection of fears and terrors that I kept locked away and out of anyone’s reach. It was how I kept myself alive. When someone had access to your worst nightmares it was almost like having a magic key into how to make you crumble. This was something that I had known for a long time.

I had never spoken to anyone about them but I still found myself within a hellish moment of terror and I was asleep. Nightmares were not uncommon for anyone lest of all me, but this one was different. It was new.

When faced with the idea that everything that you knew could change in an instance in the most horrendous way possible – or at least in one way was unbearable and it was in the deepest of slumber that I saw it. These people, the ones that I had met already in the house that Sherlock Holmes called home were in a very distressing situation and I was right smack dab in the middle of it.

Several unfamiliar faces, people who I didn’t know with their claws out to harm them. Harm the Holmes’ because of me, their eyes and fangs looked towards me snarling as if I was some sort of demonic creature. I was unchanged. Sherlock was far away. He was by the house and I was in the woods on the outskirts looking on at the chaos. He turned to me and I saw something change, he seemed torn between something. I couldn’t tell what. I turned to focus on the bigger problem. There were too many of them. Way too many. I felt hot. I felt like I was burning in my chest and soon it would consume me entirely. I wanted to make it stop so I woke up, before it got worse.  I didn’t want it and that’s why when I pushed myself out of the heat of this scene (whatever it may be), I rolled off the bed and rushed out of the room.

Sherlock had been in there, watching me. He had been for quite some time. I had slept for a few hours alone outside under the trees where I was used to being. I think he probably brought me inside but I hadn’t bothered to wake up while he carried me. I didn’t think I exactly transported on my own into his bed. Waking up there however did make me realize that he probably hadn’t slept in some days. That seemed strange. I had been the sole inhabitant of this large bed for days – first when he initially brought me here after I was attacked and now again. I shouldn’t get too comfortable. I knew that.

I took to the bathroom down the hallway to splash some water on my face and try to stop shaking so much. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. I took in a few deep breathes while doing so and pressed my hands against the side of the sink. Was this real? I had to ask myself that. It wasn’t out of reassurance or anything but in a way I needed to be reassured that this wasn’t about to happen for a second time. This had happened before, once.

I was so confused and scared. The shaking wouldn’t stop.

I was also trying to fight the other impulsive I was having; to flee. I didn’t need any of my things necessarily. I just needed to run, run, run and never look back. This was why I didn’t stay anywhere too long and it had only been two days. It was best that I go as soon as I could, I knew that. This was how I survived. This was how I kept others out of harm’s way. It was safer than the alternative. The alternative being many things – some good and some bad but this was a part of how I made it on my own so long.

Don’t get attached. Lack intrigue. Escape.

That was my plan and I stuck to it for the most part.

There was this part of me that felt like I was failing at the second part. I hadn’t gotten attached. I hadn’t cared much if at all about these people. I was here because Sherlock was insistent about talking to me and we had talked. We had spent time in each other’s company. I knew it wasn’t rational thinking but I couldn’t stomach the idea of growing into this life that they had here. It reminded me of home. The home I had with my mother and it hurt me all over to think that I could ruin it. I would ruin it.

I swallowed, looking up at my reflection in the mirror before twisting around to head back to Sherlock’s room. I felt like crying, I could see the tears in my eyes just then but I batted them away as I went back to focusing on the act of pretending for a little while longer.  I didn’t know what I could do or say to him now knowing that it was possible there was danger upon them but I would go back to my plan.

Number two was a fail-safe, always and then number three would follow shortly. This is what I hoped, anyways.

“Bad dream?” He asked when I sat on the side of the bed as I bypassed him. He was sitting in a chair with his legs folded. A small notebook in his hand. His large hands flickered through the pages, holding the small leather-bound booklet in his hands firmly. I couldn’t tell if he was exactly paying attention to what was written or if it was supposed to be a distraction from my presence. I had realized after he fumbled for me to stay so we could talk that I made him greatly uncomfortable.

This wasn’t something I was used to being able to say I did to anyone. People made me uncomfortable in general. I saw the way they stared at me. I could have used it against him but that was not who I was. I was not that kind of person and I wouldn’t change just because I felt like I should isolate myself in order to save him. I was better than that but I would appear not to give a damn in order to calm myself.

I shrugged. “I suppose. Do you sleep at all?” The question fell from my lips before I could do anything about it.

“Sometimes. I don’t find it entirely thrilling. I like to be doing something.”

“Sleeping is something.”

“It’s dull. It doesn’t do much for my brain. I need intrigue.” He stood at that admission and twirled about the room as if he was searching for something. He looked at me a few times with a tilt of his head as he bent down under the bed to retrieve what looked to be a musician’s case. He placed it on the bed where I was not sitting and opened it up. A violin was inside. He took it in his hands along with the bow, propping it against his neck and begun to saw out a tune.

It sounded peaceful. Like a lullaby of some sort. I sat there with my back to him having turned away from him and listened to him play quietly. He moved about the room. The shuffling of his feet was nearly undistinguishable along with the music that he churned with his limbs.

I spied him as he walked closer to where I was sitting. His eyes were nearly shut but it was obvious to me that he knew what was around him and how not to trip over anything in the process. This was his room, it would be stupid of him not to know. I couldn’t remember the last time I could say I completely knew a place down to the dent in wall. I tried to familiarize myself with most things in order to be aquainted with an area, to find ways out mostly but here there was so much that I didn’t know. So many places that I avoided merely because just as all the other places I could tell that I was not wanted her, not entirely.

I was uncommon denominator in this faction and while I had been assured that there was nothing wrong with it. There was something about not wanting to be unwanted that kept me sticking to the side where I knew it was easily accessible to find a place to just leave out of.

That was all a part of my plan of course. I didn’t factor in a boy like Sherlock Holmes, however. He spoke to me in several ways, sometimes without even saying anything at all but right now he seemed to want to talk and that’s what kept me here in the first place wasn’t it?

“You are thinking about leaving.” He wasn’t asking me. He seemed to notice my unease quickly. I smiled slightly as I looked at him. He moved to sit near me but he wasn’t close enough that I could feel his shirt pressed against my shoulder. No, he was poised with his instrument in his hand messing with it, plucking – I think that’s what it was called. His bow sat in between us; a small barrier keeping us at a distance.

I almost felt grateful for it. It wasn’t as if we completely understood any of this that was going on.

“It’s possible.” I told him as I went back to staring at the wall that was in front of me. There was a beige color to the wall – painted of course. This wall was vacant of any kind of décor. The others had few items on it. I knew this only because I had inspected it the last time I woke up in here. “You asked me to stay.” I decided to throw his way of discussing things back at him.

“Not exactly. I asked if you were thinking about staying.”

“You implied you wouldn’t mind it if I did. Was that a lie?”

“No.” He sighed. “Stop evading, Molly. What has changed?”

I laughed a little before turning to him. His eyes were trained on me of course. They always were when I went to look at him. He kept searching, hoping to find something about me that would give him a clue. I controlled my expression as I told him the truth. If there was one person I could try to trust here it would be him. He had saved my life after all – even if it was more so his wolf acting on his behalf. “I get bad dreams.”

“Normal people do.”

I shot him a look. I really wished he wouldn’t interrupt like that. He nodded, I continued. “Normal people don’t have dreams – nightmares – that come true. Do they?”

“Only if they make it real. I’d think those type of people were more sadistic in nature however, from what I’ve seen. People will do anything to make their dreams come true. Even the most demented ones.”

I had to agree with him but I didn’t know if the easiness between us could change anything. I appreciated that he didn’t push me. Perhaps, I needed a push. At least one of these days.

“I avoid pain if I can help it. I don’t wish to cause you any pain.” I think the words got stuck in my throat a bit more than I had hoped causing me to sound like I was in anguish. I suppose I was, internally.

Sherlock stopped plucking and looked at me. I was trying not to make him interested in me at all but I told him something like that. I was bound to fail at the disinterested part. I figured he would comment on my wavering emotional stability but he only blinked at me for a second before standing up and walking to his desk. “I have something of yours I think you want back.” I heard the wound of a drawer opening and then he was standing in front of me again with a small piece of folded paper.

I didn’t open it as I took it from his hands. “Thank you.” I appreciated the fact that he was giving it back to me. It must have been in my clothes that they had washed. “I was wondered what had happened to it.”

“You didn’t ask if anyone had seen it.” Again, he wasn’t questioning me but making an observation about what I was doing or what I hadn’t done just yet. I think most people would find it annoying for someone to keep doing that but I saw it more amusing than anything.

“I have it memorized. I’ve read it several times over the years.” It was the message from my mother. It was my only real attachment to anything.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There was another thing but it didn’t really count at this point in time. The fact that he had thought to give it back to me and had kept it safe somewhere said a lot to me but there was something else that had suddenly popped up into my mind.

“Did you rifle through my things?”

“No.”

I watched him for a minute unsure of whether or not he was telling me the entire truth. “Promise. I only took your clothes out. You have so little, by the way. What will you do when the winter comes?”

I didn’t have a coat. He had realized that quite quickly. I shrugged. “Hibernate?” I smiled.

He didn’t laugh and that made me sigh. “I’ll get you one.”

“Are you bribing me with a coat? Is that how you’ll make me stay?”

“I never insinuated I would do anything. I believe everyone should have a coat, a good one if possible to keep warm.”

“Like the one hanging by the door.”

“The Belstaff? No, that was a gift and I take care of it for the most part. You need something for your travels.”

He was confusing. One moment he inquired about my leaving and then the next he was talking about getting me a coat so that I would be safe away from him. What was his deal?

“No thanks.” I told him. I tried not to stand up and tell him how much he irritated me. I didn’t need anyone’s charity. I would be fine. I was always okay on my own. My voice was tight and I think he realized that this conversation was over.

Neither of said anything and when the morning came, we both filed out and down the steps to the kitchen for breakfast. More people were here. I figured most would have left after the change but apparently they stuck together. I couldn’t pretend to understand that. I was alone and I felt it as hurried back up the steps to change.

I placed all my things back in my bag then, stowed the folded piece of paper away and put on my shoes. As I was beginning to decide whether to take the window exit or go back down the steps and out the door I heard a loud noise coming from outside.

I peeked out the window and saw it. Saw them rather. There were so many, I cursed as I rushed down the stairs pushing past Sherlock as he stood by the door. I could hear him calling my name as he followed me.

Several made grabs at me as I rushed through all of them trying to find any one person who could give me a clue as to why they were here and why this was happening but all I got was scratches on my arm and I was shaking again. This was not a dream. This was chaos and I looked at Sherlock who had stopped at the steps.

His family begun to filter out around the perimeter. I could hear the low hiss and growls of both sides. Mrs. Holmes was among the pack and that made me very nervous. I cut it out of my mind as I went back to looking at the others. They were a part of the mix breed. The one who had a little bit of everything in them. Their eyes were different.

They would be different when they changed. It was during this moment that I realized just how horrible this situation was. Some of them had already begun to change. This was something that was possible and it wasn’t going to be good at all. This wasn’t the thing that was troubling me the most however. It was the fact that I knew something that Sherlock and the other’s didn’t and if I knew even a little bit about him, he was going to try to get to me first when he realized it.

I couldn’t change. I was stuck.

I was a mutt.

Mycroft was right. I spelled trouble.

I was going to get them killed.

I was crying and I wanted to run. I wanted to turn around and just bolt but I couldn’t because I was surrounded and I was going to watch them die. Except I didn’t want to. I wanted to protect them. I didn’t really know them but I wanted to and that’s why when one of the ones that had already changed came towards me I stood there and stared it right in the eyes shaking and all and I let it pounce me.

This was the catalyst and I was nearly sure that I wouldn’t make it out alive.

I remembered the low growl emitting in the back of my mind, the fierce slow drum in my chest as I waited to become piece of flesh or maybe just bones littering the floors of the woods. _She_ was ready to come out even if she couldn’t.

_Please. I don’t want them to die. I don’t want to die. Help me. Help me._

I was pleading by the time I was first struck in the face.

It was futile. I knew this but still I pleaded in the hopes that some force would be able to help me; help _us_ get out of this alive.

I breathed in and out as I dodged and kicked and tried to curl myself into a ball. She was growling from inside and trying to force her way out.

I whimpered as I felt the streaks of blood as I was torn into again.

_Please_.

_Help._

_Me._

Then there was a flash. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right so, there tons that will be explained in the next chapter but I had to post this as soon as I finished it which is now after like 8:30PM because I need to go to bed (work soon!) but another reason is that I took eons to update this, I was doing NanoWriMo and before that I was slightly blocked but I actually know what’s going to be happening next chapter, so yay! 
> 
> I hope you like this. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think.
> 
> Much love,
> 
> Day
> 
> P.S. Talk to me about s3 because we tons of new things to discuss okay? Okay.


	7. Chapter 7

 

7.

**Sherlock**

I was accustomed to the feeling of my body stretching and the intense pain of my bones shifting into the animal that was within in me. I never liked it but on this one occasion it seemed a part of me decided that I wasn't completely against it. Be it that I had a proper reason for going along with it. A woman was in trouble and despite the fact that I could never see myself as a hero - I didn't believe in them, I felt a surge of need to be one in this moment. It was as if I wasn't paying any mind to anyone else as I rushed forward in her direction and immediately stood ready to act as protector, guard, knight or anything else that was needed to make sure she wasn't killed mercily.

I couldn't recall most of what had happened but when everything settled and it was just me, my brother within range as the rest of my family had been sure to go after the people who had decided to invade our territory, our home, our peace that was when I fully turned towards the form on the ground behind my body. I was still within my wolf's phase but I could clearly see that there was not anything good about what we had to deal with now. I felt Mycroft nudge me closer to her. We never tried to communicate while in these forms though it could be done. It was a tricky action to form when you didn't know who was really talking; the wolf or you. 

I shifted the body towards Mycroft's dark brown form and looked him straight in the eyes trying to see if I could find anything that helped me figured out which one of them was trying to push me into doing something. Mycroft or the wolf inside him. There was a small shift in the eye color, when in wolf they diverged from the host to the wolf's. Mine were naturally a few different shades but never went grey unless the wolf was trying to urge me into agreeing with him. Mycroft was the first one to have ever taken notice of it on me. This little piece of information gave me the indication that it was Mycroft trying to communicate with me.

He nudged me again towards Molly or the form that was supposed to be Molly. I bent down and caught her by the neck as gently as I could with my fangs and tossed her over my back and turned away from my brother before breaking out into a quick shuffle towards  the woods. Beyond the wind that I could hear roaring as  _we_  padded through trying to find the quickest way to the cove that my mother had shown me as a little boy. It was a safe place, as I faintly recalled her telling me before. It resided within the deepest parts of the woods, in a section that most people didn't ever venture. That's what it made it special and safer than anywhere else. Mycroft had to know that that would be safest place to go with Molly if I wanted to help her. It was his decision partly to instruct me to do it but there was also something different about it. It wasn't all his idea, his decision could have been swayed by what his wolf was telling him. 

The one thing I did know was that Mycroft had a problem with Molly, and that was what gave the most evidence that this might be a two-person decision. I knew too well what could happen if your wolf was trying to be the one in charge. It was probably one of the things I despised the most about having one inside me. They could do anything they wanted to if you didn't know how to talk to them and and apparently I hadn't figured that out yet. In truth, I didn't want to know. He was already pulling me into a whole new variation of indecision and questions that I had been trying to dispose of. All leading to one place that I didn't want to go.

I chose to think about it later once I had time to think for myself. 

It didn't take too long since I was in the form of the wolf to make it to the cove. It wasn't too large but it was big enough that a few people could fit in it without being too crowded. It was concealed by shrubbery which was pushed out of the way as we scratched at it before ducking down into the low dip that led into it. It was dark, with a few lit torches hanging from the ceiling. We continued to move until getting to the little set of blankets that sat piled up against the biggest wall. Upon sitting down Molly fell over onto it safely. 

I waited patiently for a few minutes to see if he would do anything different, he only wanted for us to sit and watch over her. The problem wasn't that this wasn't something I needed to do, it was just the fact that I could still do it if I was in my own flesh and not mangled within the cramped up form of the wolf. I wanted to ask if I could change. It hadn't exactly been an option, nor was it ever this time around. He usually just slipped away on his own when he was ready. More times than not I was unconscious through most of it. Only a handful of times was I ever really willing or awake to experience everything.

I felt the little puff of breath come out between it's lips as I huffed out in discontentment. At least I had some way of being able to control my body. I closed my eyes for a minutes and tried to find him from inside. It was usually difficult for he liked to hide away in the deepest and darkest part of my mind. However, due to the fact that we were both concerned about the form that was laying unconscious just in front of us it wasn't too hard to find him. He was sitting by the window that signalled the rise of a morning beginning. It was supposed to be some kind of euphemism for Molly, I suppose. I didn't understand it, the sun had just started to be there whenever there was some sort of new startling change in my head about her. 

I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to go about inquiring about whether or not he was willing to step back for the moment, but it didn't seem I had to. He turned towards me. The stormy grey of his eyes looking less menacing that it usually did when he stormed his way into my field of thoughts when he needed me to move out of the way so that he could do what he wanted. He padded over to me, the air felt different from inside when he stood there in front of me. He didn't do anything once he stood in front of me. He just stared at me, as if he was waiting for me to do something. 

I didn't know what I should do really. I had never tried to get him to interact with me. Nor had I tried to talk to him without trying to shout at him about stopping from invading into my will to do things that I didn't wish to. It had never worked of course. 

I pondered for a moment before reaching out with my hand carefully and going to press my hand against his head. He surprised me when he leaned a little closer to me and sniffed. I didn't touch him though. I withdrew my hand and he just tilted his head up to me, he was trying to tell me something. The low emitted growl that followed me made me jump back. What did I do? 

I let out a sigh before muttering, "Just let me take care of her, alright? I promise I won't hurt her. I didn't fight you this time, remember?" 

He stopped growling for a minute before turning around and started to move away from me. I didn't know what that meant for a little while, I just had the silence as my company now that he had disappeared. Then suddenly I was tumbling over and I felt the soft texture of the ground again. It was my hands not the paws of his. I smiled a little before turning over and sitting with my legs spread out. I flinched, my knee didn't feel okay. I moved it around to inspect it, my hand coming down to feel for any sort of tear or cut. I found one; jagged and rough. It wasn't bleeding though surprisingly enough. It was large enough that it should have been.

There was one small perk to having that animal inside me. He had probably started to heal it when I asked about coming back out. I probably should have waited.

I shook my head off it for the moment as I turned back to Molly. Well, it was partly her. 

The wolf was still covering her for the most part. From her right leg up to her waist and over to her right shoulder and face. She was still in her wolf but her hair was long and splayed as it usually was in the reddish hue over her face. Her wolf must have pushed itself out to try to protect her. Now she was stuck like this for whatever reason. It didn't help that it seemed she had been injured rather severely during the attack. I frowned, that had been the whole point of going out into the madness of all those mixed breeds. They hadn't been pure, not like my family. They were special. I could tell by their eyes. The eyes always gave someone or something away. It was true especially in the different breeds of species of people that I had met and those that I had read about. They could change and they had their own traits that gave them away. It was like having your own special tell. 

I had noted most of them as I became familiar with them. However, I knew little about Molly and what she was. Mycroft referred to her as a "mutt". I had heard the term only used a handful of times. The most I knew was that it meant that the person wasn't pure. I had wanted to ask if Molly knew anything about it but I couldn't now, could I? 

No.

It made me wonder if the reason why her wolf was still mostly still there was because she was trying to protect her still. Even if they were both unconscious. I couldn't possibly be able to tell, not just by sitting there and watching her. 

So, I waited. I waited for hours but she didn't move. Nor was there any sign of Mycroft or my mother but I stayed there and waited for some sign that I would get an answer from someone.

It came the following morning when a coughing fit sounded from the entrance of the coven and a distinctly annoyed voice said, "Why did you bring me all the way out here, Mycroft? Who could need my help out here?" I smirked as I got to my feet, my knee jerked a little as I waited for both of them to come in my field of vision. It only took two more minutes than it should have. 

The shorter of the two gave a surprised gasp when he looked in my direction. "Sherlock! What are you doing all the way out here, and what the bloody hell did you do to your leg?" I looked down at mentioned part of my body and saw the damage to it. I quickly waved it off as John started towards me.

"I can wait. This is more important." I told him as I moved out of the way so that he could see the heap of animal and human ligaments that was lying on the pile of blankets.

"What in the world...who is that?" 

Mycroft chimed in then, he looked amused by John's reaction. It only seemed to both annoy and aggravate me. This was no laughing matter. A girl was in an unfortunate state that I was sure he had no lead on how to treat so he called John Watson. It must have been a sight for him to have to deal with my older brother. John had no problems with my family, but Mycroft was hard to swallow for nearly everyone. He could be highly intimating. 

"A friend of Sherlock's. That's all you need to know. Your task is to try to fix her. She seems to be stuck in between phasing. She is a mutt after all. Perhaps that might help you figure it out, Doctor Watson."

"My word..." John whispered as he crouched down with the bag he had brought with him and immediately started to look over Molly. "This is...interesting."

At any other time I probably would have applauded his use of words but however I didn't understand it either. So, I stood there close watching him work. 

Mycroft stood against the opposite seeming in thought for a few minutes before he spoke quietly, hoping to beckon me closer to him. "You have that puzzled look on your face. Anything you'd like to ask, little brother?"

For once I decided perhaps Mycroft would be able to help. He did seem to know more about this than I did. He could be a small asset into getting me to understand. I joined him at the wall and slid down to sit. My knee was being unkind to me and as soon as John had come to a conclusion I would be able to get him to have a look at it. "Explain to me all you know about mutts. You have some aversion to their kind."

"They aren't pure. You should have an aversion to them too." He peered down at me, and sighed. "I'll tell you since you haven't been too willing to look into any good information on our species. Mutts, as they are called come from a union of a half breed and a pure breed. There aren't that many of them but they are defective. Highly defective. They can't do many of the things most pure or half breeds can do on their own. Like phase at will. It's not a common occurence to have this happen with half breeds all that much but as you know as a pure breed you can phase if you want, I know you don't ever want to. Regardless as shown today Miss Hooper couldn't phase on her own. I imagine she had to wake up her wolf and get it to see that she needed their help. This is one of their biggest problems. It can be a fatal problem. As such, they also don't have the power to heal quickly which is probably another reasons why she got stuck. Her wolf more than likely made the decision to try to protect her host as much as possible despite how damaging it could be. It is increasingly difficult to hold onto a phase for a mutt when it isn't time for a moon transformation. It won't be too surprising should it take weeks for her to come fully back to herself. The wolf is more willing to let it's form take fully over in order to heal it's human counterpart even under duress. This is a strong case for Miss Hooper.  One of the others is the lineage problem. Most mutts aren't allowed to meet the pure side of their parentage. I imagine it was her father. When a pure's family finds about a child that was created with a half breed or worse a human they become very difficult and tiring people. It is likely that her father was a part of her life for most of her childhood then he suddenly left without a word. Her mother being left to take care of her, I hear it can take a toll on a person." He paused a moment and I could feel his gaze heavily trying to gauge my reaction.

It was a lot to take in. He continued shortly, "There are other things but I don't find them useful as of yet. I think you know enough for now. Like I said, they are defective and it is often looked down to interact with them. They are highly unpredictable and that can be a problem in itself." Mycroft stopped talking after that and I sat there thinking about all that he had said for a few moments before I spoke to him again.

"Not all mutts are the same, I imagine." I smiled when I heard my brother's sigh of annoyance. He had obviously figured out that I had decided not to stop interacting with her after she was fully recuperated. We sat in silence as we watched John work, he seemed to be onto something but I knew that he wouldn't say anything until he was absolutely sure of what he thought was absolutely correct. I trusted him in this right because he had made a life of studying the different anatomies of both beast and human, he knew more and as long companion of his he would know how to proceed. By his mother's name he wouldn't stop until he fixed Molly, as a doctor he couldn't leave a patient until they were fine. It was something I admired in him, he had dedication and loyalty. 

Mycroft on the other hand had been hoping to trigger some sort of standoffish reaction out of me and make me change my mind about Molly. If only he knew how much my mind had already decided about her. In truth, I hadn't decided much apart from the idea that I wanted to talk to her more before she decided to actually leave. In short, he probably gave me much more ammunition on to why I could probably get her to stay at least for a few more weeks.

I'm sure I could help her. There was something about Molly that he didn't know. She was searching for something and I was more than willing to help now that I had a little clarity on her situation. I think I had figured out what she was looking for too and it had nothing to do with some silly prophecy, no matter how much I was sure that's what my mother wanted. 

Perhaps we could end up helping each other out. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock is up to something now, isn't he? Mycroft isn't going to like it. When does he ever like what Sherlock does though really? I mean, really... haha! I'm so happy to finally be able to tell you a little more about Molly's special kind of breed (i.e. mutts). I knew I had to utilize Mycroft in order to tell him too. He would know more about it than anyone. He has to have a reason for not liking them and in his own right Molly as a result, right? I swear we are going to get to the legend within good time. It's just not time just yet. But, when the time arise you will know a lot! Everybody needs a little TLC currently. 
> 
> Anyways, tell me all your thoughts! I would love to know all your theories about what will end up happening now, next or in the future? What do you think about Molly's lineage? Who is the pure and who is the half breed? 
> 
> Until next time, my dears!
> 
> much love,
> 
> day


	8. Chapter 8

8.  
 **Sherlock**  
It takes three weeks for there to be any remarkable change in Molly’s position in the cave. Her half state between wolf and human has slowly been shifting from one to the other. It is of the past few days that I can see any real definition that she is still a woman. That she is human, really. It’s almost like a bad experiment gone wrong if I was unaware of phasing and the other creatures in the world. In truth I know much more than I let on. 

John has been very informative the past several weeks and that makes me grateful. He realized there wasn’t much that could help to aid Molly’s wolf to speed along the process of healing but he managed with the help of his mother to get a few things inside here that had a chance of making her comfortable while she got better. That was the easiest way of phrasing it. 

They both came every couple of days to check on her and give any updates that I couldn’t clearly see. I usually came up here at night when my mother didn’t need me to keep busy doing other things. Tedious things as they were, always. I brought a few books and samples that I found along the way to look over with the small light provided by a lantern that John had brought on a night he had come.  
He was here now as we sat in the afternoon talking about other things. He was dating a girl from another town who had come to the Watson’s home for help with her mother’s condition. A clan of pure wolves who were involvement with royalty. I found it interesting that someone with such close affiliations with the people who looked over the country needed to seek help outside of it. 

“It is a frightening business, Holmes. Royals try to turn their eyes from your world. Where my family make a living from helping both sides of it. It’s not a safe occupation in the least.”

I didn’t like that he identified me so close to every other aspect of the creatures. I could hear my brother’s voice insisting that I couldn’t run from it forever. Even he as little involvement as he tried to do with this wolf business still was quite immersed in it. I think it was strange how much he knew about it and it wasn’t just about the ways of the wolves, he knew tons about every species as if it was truly that important. 

I had started to pick up on some of it. These new developments of our clan being attacked made me feel like it was necessary to look into the shadows where these adversaries were hiding. There had been something that Molly had hinted at before she was taken out of the picture that had my mind engrossed in the search for more answers. About her dreams. 

She had asked me about how real some dreams were. I hadn’t paid much mind to it, in the days that I had spent with her awake I realized that she often spoke more with the small things that she asked. Questions and small hints that I overlooked. I needed to pay attention now. 

“Why do you do it then, John? Surely taking care of strangers is not as important as your safety or your mother’s. You care for her deeply.” I turned to him, it was in my own inquiries that I found I needed these answers to help me on this journey I was about to go on. I didn’t know what would happen on it, but I had a hidden suspicion that there were things that I was going to discover through Molly that I hadn’t thought of before. 

“I do. Experiencing the adrenaline is both frightening and thrilling at the same time. I imagine you would do the same to keep bread on the table if you had to do that type of thing.” I knew what he was referring to. It was no surprise to hear him say it directly to me. John was the type of man who was honest when he felt it was necessary, I enjoyed it.

“It’s possible but at the same time very unlikely. My family may have wealth but I don’t touch it all that much. I stay away from the house as much as possible.”

John is grinning when he talks to me next. He has some medical files with him, looking over cases that his mother has been looking into for other families. Or perhaps they were of his own studies. I hadn’t really looked at it. He held them close that I hadn’t bothered to pry. “I know. I have started to come here instead of the house knowing that you’ll be sitting here rather than inside where it is sanitary and safe.”

“There aren’t many who can find this place quickly enough to try to track my movements.” 

He laughed at me. “I was not referring to your ability to fend off an adversary. I was merely referring to the fact that you enjoy sitting with a woman who has been unconscious for weeks without moving rather than dealing with any questions from your family.”

I don’t say anything to that. It’s the truth. Anything my family wants to say to me would pertain to the person who I sit with, so why entertain them. There is nothing I will say that will satisfy their minds. Especially my mother who often asks if there have been any improvement on Molly’s condition. She hasn’t been here yet to see how she looks but I know Mycroft has relayed at least a portion of the details of how she appears. Exaggerated commentary at that. His dislike of Molly’s kind will keep him from sharing good news however little there may be.

I am only thankful he hasn’t come back since he discussed all that he could about mutts and their disadvantages. I haven’t seen him either which means he has probably gone back to his day job. 

“It’s about time for dinner with your parents, is it not?” I ask him after several long moments of silence between the two of us. Both of us having gone back to our respective readings for a while. 

John pulls out his dad’s old watch from his trousers. It’s a pocket watch. I know it has an inscription on the back of it with words of sentiment more than likely passed down from his grandfather from his father. John always has it near him. He nods at me and quickly shuts the folder he has in his lap and jumps up. “I’ll be late if I don’t hurry. Mum will worry, but I will tell her of the progress of our patient,” he mutters as he gestures to Molly who has a blanket thrown over her bottom half to keep her from the chill of the night, thanks to Mrs. Watson who was fretting the last time she came along with John a week ago. “That should make her forget about my tardiness to an extent. Anyways, you should probably eat too Sherlock. Your own mother worries about you, you know?” 

I scoff as he rolls his eyes at me and heads towards the exit. 

I grumble at his retreat and close my book, not marking the page. I’ll remember it later should I want to read more of it. It was starting to get dull and I have another idea in mind for how I should spend the rest of the night. At least I did until I saw the form across the way move. She was shaking. 

I give her a moment to see what is changing this time. Usually it is a small shiver from the coolness of the night and other times it is the wolf receding back a little. The latter usually happens quietly and only a small section of it disappears to reveal a human limb. Tonight, she appears to be moving hurriedly enough. I remember suddenly that a turn might be imminent in another week. 

Some wolves can manage to do so early if they are half breeds. As I am a pure I can manage whenever and also on the night of the full moon. Special cases, as Mycroft had stated. 

I don’t see this as being one of those times however. It is mostly in her shoulders, I notice as I get to my feet. I’m not supposed to disturb her at all but I go forward some days to have a better look at what is left for her to be finished with the process. There isn’t too much left. 

The shaking has stopped down and as she is turned away towards the wall I can see that her face is back to normal. Gone is the shape of the wolf’s head and the fur that ruled it. Her hair is covering part of her face but I can see the small pout of her mouth as it rests, she is breathing out puffs of air. Soothing breathes that should relieve me even a little bit. However, they aren’t normal. 

It’s the fact that part of her is still in the form of her wolf. I know that. The beats of their hearts are different. Two beats faster than normal. I try to move past that as I realize that it shouldn’t be too much longer until she’s back to normal. This is good.  
I turn away from her and go over to open notebook that I keep. Inside of it are small sketches and notes that I’ve jotted down over the past couple weeks and even before that. It’s where I keep any new information that I discover about this disease I’m living with and now, Molly’s own developments. I’ve thought about showing it to her latter. It might fascinate her to know some things. I know she knows more than I do on the subject, she lived in places that I have never been in my entire lifetime. I’ve been outside of the town before but always for this and that and it has never been on my own. I haven’t had that luxury before, it would be an interesting experience to some exploring of my own.

I believe in some way Molly will provide me with that.  
What she’s looking for is not something we will find where I live, I truly believe that. She’s brought something to me and it is unclear what that could mean exactly but I intend to ask the questions I’ve been attempting to since she stumbled back into my sights. 

I need them. 

I jot down a few more notations before I shut my eyes for a little while. While I don’t particularly like to doze off on most days, I don’t see there being much of a change right now. Tomorrow is a different story.

It turns out I am correct again. I try not to be too smug about it but it is a nice start to be woken up by the sound of the shuffling of blankets and bones sliding into place in the right way.

Molly lets out a groan and I move over to her quickly. I am eager and I know I should wait for her to see me before I do anything but I cannot wait anymore. I’ve done weeks of it. 

I don’t fully expect her to take me off my feet and wrestle me to the ground however.

 

**Molly**

My head hurts. That’s the first thing that I feel when I realize that I’m not dead. Was I ever truly dead? I don’t remember what happened at first. It takes me all of ten seconds as I try to will my body to move so that I’m not in such a cramped position (on my back instead), to recollect the memories from the last time that I was awake and conscious. There had been so many wolves and mixed species that I was sure I had been dead the last time that I was fully awake and able to move. 

I was willingly keeping my eyes closed as I groaned and felt the shift in my anatomy as my bones clicked like clockwork back into place. How long has it been? I wonder, when I feel the heat of someone hanging above me. I’ve been here before. It wasn’t pretty the last time, and I think that’s why I move without thinking. My feet first, sliding under whoever it is and giving them a solid kick in the shins causing them to fall over nearly on top of me. 

I follow him by trying to cover them before they could do the same of me. It’s an instantaneous thought. I’m glad that my brain is still working though, even if he overpowers me and turns the tables on me and pins my hands at my side. His voice is familiar to me and that gets me to relax fractionally. “Molly, stop.” 

My eyes open quickly. I must look as startled by the situation as he does as he is practically straddling me to keep me from hitting him again. It’s Sherlock. Of course, it’s Sherlock. I expel a breath of air I didn’t know I was holding, as I look around us. He is practically all I see or feel. I do feel sore, too. 

He seems to be looking for something in my face as he stays where he is without moving away. “Sherlock.” I whisper his name and his eyes drift up to lock on my own irises. I tilt my head to the side as if to tell him that he can let me go now. He seems to realize that I’m not going to hit him again as he lets go of me and slowly retreats from holding me down with his body. He only moves to sit beside me however. 

This give me a better look of where we are, or rather where we aren’t. We’re not in his house, we are not in his room sheltered by the soft cotton of his bed and wooden floors that cover most of the place. Instead it looks like he’s hidden me away in a cave of some sort. It’s not all that large but it seems he knows his way around it. I took another sweep of the place before my eyes land back on him, he’s staring at me. He’s been staring at me. 

I start to get up only for a shooting pain to hit me in my arms, and my legs. 

Everywhere, really. I wince and settle for just sitting up for right now. I’m still not well. “How long has it been?” I ask him as I run a hand through my hair which is in my face for the most part. I sweep it back. It feels longer and the itch to chop it off again is strong. I dispel the thought as Sherlock speaks to me. 

“Close to four weeks. Three weeks and three days precisely.”

Before I could question him on how it’s possible. Was I in a coma? I need to know plenty from him. He has to know some things.

“You have a disadvantage, it seems.” He clears his throat as if he doesn’t like calling whatever it is he referring to as that. “After you were attacked,” He stops. “After we were all attacked, I got you out of there the best that I could. My wolf more so than me though there was plenty of help on the matter. You don’t heal like most of us; wolves that is. It was like you were stuck in between two forms. She wanted to protect you for as long as possible. Your wolf. It’s funny how much they care for their hosts.”

“Yet, she wouldn’t help me at first.”

“She couldn’t.” Sherlock insisted. “You’re a mutt.”

“I’m well aware of it. It’s a pain really, all the things you’re capable of doing….” I stop myself before I could go on. I’m not entirely bitter about the differences between the two of us. I’ve met plenty of his kind. The pure breed ones. The truth of the matter is that I don’t care about it anymore. I’ve never truly cared what anyone has thought of me and the things that I’m capable of. I don’t know everything but what I do know is that I’m perfectly content with it for right now. I know my limits. 

“Anyways,” I pause a moment realize that there is something in my leg and then I rip it out. “Was this necessary?” There is a needle in my hand, it’s an IV line but as I look around I know it was not to give me fluids. The opposite actually. A catheter. How degrading.

“The Watsons thought it would be better than to let you soil the blankets you were under.”

“The Watsons?” I question. It’s the first time I’ve heard of them, whomever they may be.

“They’re a family of healers so to speak. They take care of ill creatures, no matter if they are human or not. I am friends with their son, John. His mother and he took care of you as best as they could while you were out. There wasn’t exactly much they could do. The shift in your appearance cause a lot of trouble to aid you in anyways. Wolves usually are able to heal their hosts of any damage, however you were a troubling case.”

“Because I didn’t completely phase.” I nod, I’ve hear of this happening but I had never had it happen before. 

“I myself don’t particularly like the wolf to heal me, if I’m in a hurry I’ll push him back inside. John doesn’t approve of my methods.”

I smile at him. It sounds like an accurate assumption for most of the people in Sherlock’s life. There is something about him that makes me feel like most people wouldn’t understand him. But, a part of me does. He hates the side of him that is susceptible to his wolf. He can’t control it and it bothers him. I am the opposite about it. 

“I imagine you’re a horrible patient, Holmes.” I tell him as I roll my neck around. It feels stiff. 

He says nothing but I know he’s probably glaring at me. I look over at him and see that I am right. I ignore it and ask him another question. “Have you been here the entire time?” I see books and odd things across the way where I suspect he sat when I was out.

“It’s quiet.” It’s the only kind of answer he gives me and I keep the statement of gratitude from slipping from my mouth even though I do want to tell him thank you for staying with me. He could have left me. He doesn’t seem to want me to leave him entirely. Just before this entire ordeal he had been wanting me to stay so that we could talk more. 

I think he had more questions now. The briefest bit of dread that I felt before surfaced. It wasn’t that I didn’t like him, he was an inquisitive man but I didn’t have all the answers. I didn’t want to disappoint him. 

“You awoke at the perfect time.” He tells me after a few moments where we are both quiet. 

I hum, wondering what he could mean. 

“My family is having a party as part of this ongoing festival that the town has.” He shrugs as if he couldn’t care less about it. He wants me to know anyways. “Now, I don’t have to endure it alone.” 

I beam at him. There is a method to the way he leads into some things, I noticed.  
“If I didn’t know it any better I would think you actually keep me around for good reasons.”

“Ah, but I do Miss Hooper!” He goes along with me. “You are a fascinating person. I only associate with the best.” I giggle as he sends me a wink. 

“What should I be wearing to accompany you then, my good sir?” He rolls his eyes at this. We both know he isn’t nearly as royal as we’re talking here.

“Only the best of garments. Not too formal. Let’s get back to the house and then we will discuss it further.” I think he knows that I’m not at my best for I see him reaching down to assist me up onto my feet. I take his arm as gracefully as I can as I push myself up. It still hurts a lot but I manage just fine. 

It is still early outside as we navigate out way out of the woods and back towards the house. It strange to not see any destruction from the attack from weeks ago. I decide to ask him about it later. I really want to shower first. 

The house seems quiet and I look at a clock downstairs before we head up to his room, 8:43AM. It’s significantly early. Perhaps I’ll see more people later. I don’t mind too much. 

He leaves me at the door of the bathroom when I mention wanting to clean up a bit. He instinctually begins to tell me where the towels are at in the room, as if he forgets that I’ve been here before. He catches himself and stops for a moment before ushering me inside, saying nothing else as if embarrassed by his slip up. I only want to smile at his bashfulness. It seems like a very unlikely trait for him to have. He is human, as much I imagine he tries not to be. It’s better than being a complete animal. He would hate that, I think. 

I shut the door and quickly slip under the water jets of water after stripping from what is left of the rags that were covering me up. I’m half surprised that I was still wearing clothes after what Sherlock described on the way back. It was comforting to know I hadn’t been naked as I came back to being human. That would have been embarrassing for me. 

I do away with thinking about all of that as I enjoy this luxury of being able to do away with the dirt and grim of everything that I had been rolling in over the past weeks. It wasn’t too bad, I was covered for the most part. My mind silent for once. I didn’t want to think about anything that might happen next. It was certain that I couldn’t just leave now, I had someone to deal with and entertain for the night.  
Again, I found myself that being bothered by in the slightest. Sherlock was an interesting person. 

It was as I was rinsing out the suds from the washing of my hair the first of the two times I thought would be adequate for it to be completely clean, that I heard the door opened. It wasn’t just the door to the room, however. I stilled realizing that someone was in the shower with me. 

Sherlock shouldn’t do that. He respected my privacy for what little of it there was here. Nor should anyone else feel okay with slipping into my private time of having a wash. 

I turn slowly and do a double take. 

It is Sherlock but a part of me doesn’t believe it. Not entirely.

I lean away from this person in disbelief. There is something wrong here and it has nothing to do with fact that it appears it is Sherlock Holmes. From the hair down to the muscles that are often hidden under his clothes. No, It comes to me quickly. 

The are eyes wrong. His eyes change sometimes but this is not one of the shades that I have seen. It’s just not possible. 

As he steps towards me I move from my position of pressed up near the spout and strike him once. He fumes and tries to hit me only, I am ready and I duck and go to kick him pushing him against the glass of the door. I do it again grabbing his hair and shoving him backwards and then smashing through the glass. He falls outside of the shower and hits the floor.

This person is bleeding, and unmoving. I swallow as I step out of there and over the broken glass that cuts into my feet to retrieve the towel. I can hear the sound of feet rushing towards the door and then Sherlock is yelling, asking if I’m alright. I don’t know what to say so I wait. He shoves the door in and follows in.

I’m staring at the corpse when he comes in. I don’t even think that I’m fully concealed from his eyes when he steps towards me. I don’t look at him still and as his hands come around gripping the towels that I’m holding so carelessly in front of me and wrap it around me. I realize he’s talking to me. “It’s okay.” He repeats it again, I think he thinks I’m in shock.

I may be. 

I’ve never been in shock before. I just let him guide me out of the room and down the hall into his room. I register the feel of the glass in my feet and he must realize that I’m leaving a trail of blood as he grabs the first aid kit from a shelf in his room as I sit on the bed. 

“He looked like you.” I tell him. The image of the man who once stood so close to me in the shower shakes me. When he died, he had changed. He didn’t look like him anymore. He had blonde hair that clung to his forehead and in straight locks and he was bulkier than he had been when he was exposed to me.

Sherlock doesn’t say anything for a little while as he’s taking tweezers and pulling the glass out and then fixing my feet up with ointment and bandages. When he’s done he looks up at me. He still doesn’t say anything. I tell him what I think. “A shape shifter, most likely. I’ve encountered them before. I don’t know what one would want with me or why they would choose to take in the form of you.”

He speaks quickly after that. His mind jumping quicker than I figured it would be when he knew so little about what was going on. “Logically speaking, they might think we are closer they we appear. Trying to make you feel safe by choosing someone you are acquainted with. However, I haven’t the slightest clue why they would do that and attack you at the same time. Someone must be looking for a way to hurt me or my family.”

“I haven’t been here that long and I’ve been indisposed for weeks. They could have struck sooner.”

“There have been people scoping out the house since then. I suppose seeing you come back made them think it was safe to infiltrate. No one would think anything of me coming into my own house. If anyone was around at the time.”  
“They might be now.” She tells him. 

Sherlock gets up, putting all the bloody pieces of cotton balls and the like in the trash, putting the kit back where it was before digging in his dresser for something. He tosses something at me. “Put that on for now. The party isn’t until later.”

“We’re still going to go after that?” I asked him as I focused on putting on the shirt while he was turned away. He stayed turned away for a while as he tinkered with things on his desk.

“It would mean that we were disturbed by an intruder. No one knows about it, we’ll remove the body and go on with the show later tonight.”

“You’re an odd bunch of people.” I tell him once I’m done buttoning up. The shirt is entirely too large on me but it works after I roll up the sleeves. He passes me a pair of boxers as if that’s a normal occurrence and I put them on too. I giggle thinking of how I must look in his clothes and he turns to look at me. He has a weird expression on his face but he doesn’t say much else before his mother tumbles in with her face pale as the shirt I have on right now.

“There is a body in the bathroom. Oh! Molly, you’re back!” She walks over to me as if we were the best of friends and takes my hands. “There is a party tonight, you’ll be there of course.”

Sherlock coughs, releasing me of this encounter that I don’t know what to do with exactly. The last time I had seen his mother I had been in a very annoyed mood. “Yes.” He answers for me. “We’ll ask Fred to remove it from the premise and Mrs. Hudson to whip something up for Molly. I don’t think she has anything to wear.” He frowns, looking past his mother at me.

He looks troubled by this but then I remember something.

“Oh, you don’t have to go to all that trouble. I have a dress.”

“You do?” They both say, turning to look at me. Their resemblance is almost uncanny but I don’t mention that as I nod.

“Yes, it’s not in my bag obviously. You searched it I presume. I’ll have to go fetch it. Its close enough by that it won’t take me too long to get it.”

They both just kind of stare at me, oddly. I just smile awkwardly. 

Wait until they see the dress. I’m sure that will be a fun experience. The party might as well be too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun with this chapter. I was going to add the party into this one but I didn't want it to be long. Its going to be an interesting party with the introduction of a few power players. I wonder who they might be...hmm. I hope you like this. Feel free to let me know what you think, please? 
> 
> Much love,  
> Day


	9. Chapter 9

ENTWINED

9.

**Molly**

I knew it was an odd thing to have when you were on the run. A dress. It wasn't just any dress and it wasn't particularly anything special. It was something of my mum's. Something that she left me when she left. I couldn't say there was any particular memory behind why I brought it along with me but I did. It was always somewhere, and I was merely lucky that I put it in a spot where it wouldn't be bothered or stolen.

It is probably more worrisome that I wouldn't be too sad if it had been lifted by someone or torn to shred. There were all kinds of creatures in these parts. I had seen more than I cared to share. Sherlock knew that, I suspected.

He had left me out back on the dark where it was easier to navigate to the woods – fairly close to the place where we met the first time. He was curious as to where I could have left it but I knew that if I had one thing I needed to have was my hiding place. If I chose to stay here longer it would be good to have one of those. Albeit it wasn't like that alcove that I had been hibernating in while I was healing but all the same it was something that I could drop in, then run from if necessary.

Barely into the woods and I took a sharp left down a path that was closer to the markets and stopped almost immediately. There beneath a few leaves was the fabric of clothing. In hindsight I suppose I could have at least put it in a bag but I didn't have an extra one. Just the one that I carried around with my few position so there it lay. I picked it up carefully and shook out any of the dirt that had collected on it. It looked alright.

Then with just a quick turn and dash I was heading back in the direction that I had come; retracing my steps until I reached the deck again. Sherlock wasn't standing there anymore. I raised my eyebrows at that then I remembered that he had to get ready too and though I had seen him vaguely in clothes I didn't think his mother would let him wear what he had been wearing even if it was a gathering in their back yard. I wasn't sure if that's actually where it was supposed to be.

I entered the house, the people who were downstairs were preoccupied enough that they didn't give me a look as a moved up the stairs and slipped into the bathroom where Sherlock or his mother thought that I would be needed my bag for something. I fished through it as I thought about anything that I would need in there. I few spare underclothes which had been cleaned by the smell. I reminded myself to thank whoever did that later.

I had showered before but running does make someone work up a sweat.

It didn't take long to slip into the dress and then pull my hair up with a few pins that I found in the medicine cabinet. I did get confused about why they were in this bathroom but Sherlock could not be the only person who used it. There were several different people who slipped in here – most of who were his family.

I left that thought alone for now as I gathered my things back into my bag and moving into Sherlock's room where he wasn't by the empty room. Instead of turning back to go look for him I put my bag in the corner where it was last and sitting on the bed.

Not really caring that the dress could get wrinkled more I stretched out and laid back on the bed as I grabbed the book that was on his nightstand. He had several books in his room. They all were about something and odd. This one was tackling the intriguing discussion of the human body. An anatomy text but that wasn't what made it strange. It talked about supernatural changes. It was written by someone who called themselves G. L. That made it even stranger. Who uses letters for their penname? No last name? No way to trace them. What was that about?

I didn't really get very far into it as the door opened and Sherlock came in looking a bit rattled but he seemed to have forgotten about what had annoyed him as he looked me over. I closed the book, placed it back on the table and hopped to my feet. "You look nice." I told him.

His face kind of morphed into this unsettled look before looking down at his feet. Or at least what I thought was his feet. They were mine. "Don't you have shoes?" He managed as he looked up at me.

"I don't think trainers count for dress wear." That came out very odd on my tongue but it was the first thing that I could think of. My second thought went somewhere like we were going to be outside I doubted that I would be looked out weird but not wearing them. However, that seemed to be the lesser thing to say when he was dressed like that.

"Give me a second."

Sherlock while he had been standing at the door had on a clean white button up that had the sleeves rolled up and a pair of gray trainers. His shoes were dressy but clean and polished. He had looked nice, and very well groomed. I laughed at the thought to myself. It was a ridiculously stupid thought. Comparing him a dog wasn't my best work.

He had made quick work of getting me some shoes. A pair of heels that had been looking very easy. "What?" He said as placed them at my feet before taking one of my hands and placing it on his shoulder as he helped me into them. He was trying to steady me so that I wouldn't fall as he placed my feet into each shoe.

"I don't usually wear those."

"I know." His tone always threw me for a loop and right now it was no different. "It's only for a couple hours then you can take them off." He told me as he straightened up, letting go of my hand. He still seemed to be surveying me for something. Then he just stopped and turned silently beckoning me to follow him. I did slowly unsure of this whole night now. I felt wobbly and I didn't think it was because of the heels. It wasn't the first time I had worn them, they weren't even that high up – about an inch and half if I had to say but it had definitely been a long time. It was something else. There were bound to people here who would want to know who I was and what I was all about and why I was so bent on being here with the Holmes family no less. I wasn't a regular around here and I had no way of looking the part.

Except when I did. Turned out these were Mrs. Holmes shoes and she had another thing that she wanted to give me.

When we got down the stairs she was there waiting with another gentleman whose eyes were dark just like his attire. I swallowed uneasily as he looked over at me. "Molly, you look lovely. I have something to help brighten you up a bit." She had already began walking down the hallway that was past the kitchen but I just looked at Sherlock who nodded and I carefully followed her footsteps to a room that was small but was full of velvet boxes.

Mrs. Holmes was a jewelry collector or she just happened to have a lot of jewelry laying around in one room. I don't know if she had a lock on the door but I hope she did. I didn't know much about the family itself but the few things that I had picked up on was that they were a major deal within the community. They had to be one of the bigger packs that I had seen throughout the years.

"Here." She said, taking me out of my thoughts to focus on the fact that she was handing me a large box that held a necklace. The necklace was littered with diamonds that fell at my bust and met at a center point. It was probably worth at least a decent hundred thousand payout but here she was offering it to me. Never mind that it was only for one night.

If I was in the mindset to leave I would with these in tow. I could set myself somewhere nice for these. I didn't think it was possible to do that. Not because I didn't think it was easy to do, it was but by becoming a thief it wouldn't help me much. There were things that I still needed to do.

So instead I asked, "Why are you giving me these?"

"Not giving, allowing you to borrow. There is a difference. Tonight is about more than my family and our contribution to the festival that has been ongoing this week – Sherlock hasn't really been involved in that obviously but it's about bringing our kind closer. You happen to be a part of that kind. Mycroft always has something to say about the company we keep, especially his younger brother. It doesn't matter. It's not about you or me. It's about all of us. Besides I have some information that might help you on what you seem to be searching for."

I wasn't sure what she was on about.

"Later, I'll see if it's something you want. For tonight you can have these and try to enjoy yourself. Keep my son out of trouble and then in the morning we'll see."

It was fair trade, I had to admit. Though I had no idea whether or not the deal would prove to be beneficial to me at all. I need any kind of information that would help. I didn't know if I could truly trust Mrs. Holmes. Not because she was offering too much but because I wasn't sure who she was.

Was she the mother that I thought she was when it came to Sherlock? Wanting to make him see something brighter than the dim view he had on everything. His need to get away – that was me. Or was she the kind to want to push out a person who she thought wasn't helping her cause at all? She could be a little bit of both. I knew lines could blur within an instance and this is proving to be the case.

So instead of saying anything at all, I merely turned away and began walking back. I couldn't let myself be put into a devil's trap.

I heard her tell me to think on it.

Not tonight, I told myself as I came back into view of Sherlock. He looked stiff and a bit annoyed by the man who stood in front of him. The one with the dark eyes. I stepped up beside him.

"So, the party then?"

His eyes briefly trained on the jewels that were around my neck. I was learning that he didn't say much if he didn't have most of his thoughts together. When the variable was me that was a hard thing to deal with. He looked back up at my face almost instantly, nodding and grabbing my hand before pulling me out the door.

**Sherlock**

It was a troubling thought, the idea that I wasn't sure what to say to Molly when she was wearing something like that. She still stood the same way. A slight relaxed slouch that radiated uneasiness from her. It's what I had come to realize was her natural stance. She held it when she was sitting as well but it was also in her face. The distance sometimes widening of her eyes as she stepped into a new space that she knew wasn't home for her. What was home to Molly Hooper? Was it where she once resided with her mother – the one who had left her years after her father had abandoned her? Was it out in the open? This was one of the many things that caused me great worry about her.

I was plagued with them the most when she was healing in the alcove away from the house. Of course, I had been more or less grounded to that spot not wanting to miss the miniscule of muscle movement or the sound that wracked her when she was phasing back to normal. She was fascinating, in the most undefinable way. I think that's why Mycroft hated her – or her kind. There was nothing definable what them. The mutts. They were reckless and wild. Something that I could be at times but that was only the brunt of the surface in this one particular woman.

She had something else that was weighing her down, and if the way Molly quietness spoke to me. I knew that Mummy had done something, something that would possibly help.

Was it for the right reason, though?

I couldn't speak for her. I could only speak for myself. Yet, even then I was unsure of what my true motive was. I could claim verbally that it was to spite my older brother but that wasn't exactly true. It would have been easier if it was that. It's something deeper that has been slowly ebbing away at the second pulse that rages within me. The part that I can't control. My other half as they say. The wolf.

He wants something too. Something that resonates in other being. I don't know if she can feel it, but I do. It brings calm too the beast and peace to my mind and I want it. I think that I do.

Tonight, I want to stop thinking about it. I fear I might ruin it for her. We've already had such a difficult day. The body that was moved and burnt in the woods, the idea that someone was trying to attack her because she knew me. As if someone knew the other thought that plagued me. The one that I wrestled with late at night when there was no one else there but me still awake wading through all my thoughts not just the ones I chose to focus on that day. It bent me in two but I wouldn't allow her to see that.

She needed something to distract her. I was nearly convinced of this. Almost.

It was gratifying to see the why her eyes lit up when we stepped down from the deck and found the expanse of the backyard that traveled from where we were standing around the side of the house out by the barn where my family took to changing on full moon transformations and ended somewhere near the front of the house. Lanterns lit up the area along with a few tea lights that sat on the tables that were positioned somewhere along the border.

Only a few people were sitting though, most were mingling jovially but turned when they noticed our appearance. I would feel more comfortable if it was just me that their eyes were trained on but alas it was not to be. I frowned but guided Molly over to the fray of them and the first person came up to greet her. My hand slipped from hers for the briefest of seconds only for her reach back for it but I simply dodged it and place it against her back.

"Relax." I told her lowly. Then I began the introductions and more people came round to see who she was. She was quiet but was polite as people introduced themselves. I noticed that they didn't ask too many questions. Somewhere it had gotten around that that probably wouldn't be a good idea. My family's influence was used for good sometimes. I'd have to ask around later to see who.

I spent most of the night beside Molly except when she went to get food and drinks. I wasn't all that hungry but indulged on a few cups of punch as my mother keep giving me a glance with that worried glance that she carried always when it came to my health and how I was behaving. I was on my best behavior tonight for the most part.

The only thing that caused a shift in me was when it seemed to Molly had accepted a dance with a person who wasn't on my list of good people. I hadn't even had the chance to warn her about certain people who might crop out of nowhere. We hadn't shared many words tonight. I was too preoccupied sharing stories with her about a few of the people here, and she inquiring about why I thought those things. My special talent seemed to amuse her but she had no objections about it as long as I was directing my observations on her.

John had spotted and tried to get his attention about the Molly situation. The dancing Molly situation. I didn't mind that she was dancing in the slightest. It was her partner. I nor my family were too fond of him.

As I said, I was caught in a bit of interference. An old friend, another person I didn't really find enjoyable. Mostly because she tried too hard for my attention, and her ways of doing so.

First, she blocked my view of Molly and her partner. Then she pressed her fingers into my shoulder as she pressed up against me. I rolled my eyes at her as I finally looked at her. The red lips were there of course. She never left home without her favored color of stain. Then there was the dress that like Molly's was also black but it hugged her in a much tighter fashion. It was elegant but doing a very distracting job.

I could feel the low rumble in my chest as the wolf started growling. He didn't like her. Never had, really. Which was a cause for worry. He was difficult to manage when The Woman was around.

"Got your attention now, have I?"

"You're practically on top of me. There's no way anyone could ignore you when you're being so desperate." It was harsh but it wouldn't deter her. I knew that. She merely grinned.

"In one of your bad moods or is _he_ annoyed tonight?"

I was silent as I slowly extracted her arms from around me and moved around her, ignoring her call that counted as both a pout and insult. What she said merely rolled off my shoulder as walked directly to the pair that I had been trying to scope. They were about to enter their third dance if I hadn't have interrupted.

"I'm afraid I need to cut in." I feigned a smile as Molly took my hand and he walked away but not before shooting me a grin dashed with malicious intent. I didn't say anything to her for a full couple beats of the song. I was counting them in my head.

_One, two, three, four._

_One, two, three, four._

_One, two –_

"Jealous." I heard her say with a smile on her face. I merely tightened my hold around her waist. " **No.** " I gritted out, hearing the slight gasp. Too tight. I sighed, spinning her out of her grasp for a quick moment before pulling her back. "He's not good." I shook my head.

She laughed. "He seemed nice."

"Molly…" I huffed.

"What?" She looked genuinely lost. I leaned down so that I was whispering her ear as we moved in a slow rhythm along with the music that was playing. It was a soft number. "His name is Moran. Sebastian Moran. He works for some of the most elite pure bloods, my family is not among that category. That has nothing to do with that but we don't find him welcoming in the slightest. He's done some very bad things to people I- we hold dear. He is not to be trusted."

I didn't fully expect her to listen to what I had to say. She had a mind of her own but I wasn't prepared for her hand to drop from its hold in minds and for the other to slide up to the nape of my neck where they met in a soft entangling in the hairs that lay smoothly there. "I didn't know." She told me swiftly. "Sorry." She followed a few beats after.

She wasn't done however. She had a question.

"Who was the woman you were with?"

Now, who was the one that was jealous?

I couldn't help the grin.

"Some stupid woman. Also dangerous. It's best if I just give you a list."

She pulled back fractionally and I could see the tiny smile. "I think that would be best. I do trust you, Mister Holmes."

I nodded. I knew that. She wouldn't have reacted that way if she hadn't already started to trust me.

That rumbling that I had felt when I was with The Woman was humming now. It was different but it felt soothing almost. I almost asked her if she had it to. Instead I finished the dance and then we found the tree where I sought her once under the stars. Sat down, and I told her about the murderous rampage that was rumored to be entirely by Moran's hand. She listened, asking little as I detailed what was passed onto me by John and the things that Mummy and Mycroft sometimes talked about. Moran was killing mutts who he thought had a chance of fulfilling the prophecy or legend.

This wasn't exactly the kind of night I was hoping to have nor did I imagine it lifted any of the uneasy feelings that she had about anything. It just made it worse. The torment of what we couldn't know. What darkness still lay ahead. It was deafening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that was a big bit of information for you guys in regard to the prophecy. Of course, there are people who aren't too happy with the fact that prophecy is something that could potentially be fulfilled. Moran is merely a small piece of course.
> 
> I do also have to mention that there is a reason why I entered Irene into this again. I know that people use her a lot, but there's a reason for it. She's going to be useful when it comes to certain areas of this story. Especially when we get to the next couple chapters.
> 
> Also, I'm sure you're wondering where Lestrade is. He is coming. He has a very special part as well. Just you wait.
> 
> Btw, this chapter probably would have been up yesterday if I hadn't took a break before I started on Sherlock's half to watch SNK / Attack on Titan. I had 13 episodes on my computer and I'm currently internet-less because I moved in a house! So this is either coming to you luckily from my shotty mobile connection on the FREE WIFI from my workplace.
> 
> Hopefully I'll have internet of my own soon, so maybe the wait won't be so ridiculous long. Though let's be honest I can never guarantee that. My writing moods swing for different stuff.
> 
> Anyway, I'm happy to finally have gotten this up for you guys! Ah, so much coming soon though friends. I would love it if you told me what you thought of this.
> 
> Much love,
> 
> Day


	10. Chapter 10

10.

**Molly**

Waking up was always a disgruntling experience for me. I often forgot where I was and as such needed to take a moment to figure it out, then make myself get up. I was used to being on the go every day, and never staying in one place for too long. As of later I was staying with the Holmes' much to my confusion.

A lot of troubling things had been happening as of late. I almost died for one, and then to find out that there were people (other than the previous) who wanted to kill me – my kind – and that had never sat well with me. Not since he had come into life.

I looked over to the chair that was pushed up against the desk and saw the familiar locks of curly hair. Sherlock was sitting there with his head tucked down into his chest and his arms slumped around the chair. He was still sleeping, something that I hadn't ever seen him do before. At least not since I first met him. I had left him then and in some way I was doing the same again.

I vaguely remember his mother saying something about having some information for me. Considering if she was awake at this hour I would be able to find out what she meant by that. In truth I would have rather waited until Sherlock was awake to try to talk to him about it, but I couldn't find it in myself to rouse him from his sleep. I didn't know when he actually fell asleep. He was usually awake while I was sleeping, both in the night and in the morning. So when did he actually sleep, and did he get enough of it?

These were things that I thought of in the morning when I was trying to figure out what I was going to do – now, in the future and if I was going to make the right choice for all parties involved. Currently that was Sherlock Holmes; the boy who I couldn't shake, and he would let me go no matter how much it would have better if I was on my own again.

**Sherlock**

It was an odd occurrence to not see the newest inhabitant of my room when waking up from another night of rarely sleeping. Molly was usually still knocked out when I woke up from the chair I had in my room. I was usually awake and had time to dress before seeing her roll out of the blue sheets that covered my bed as if something had startled her awake.

She often talked about her dreams. So vivid and powerful, she never gave me full details but it was enough for me to figure out that it was something that wove her own tale; something she struggled with. The last one featured her getting nearly killed by a large group of wolves who didn't like her. Who didn't want to get to understand who she was because of her genetic makeup. It turned out to be real. Something that had happened to her, to me, my family. It was enough to increase my curiosity.

Even so I didn't hear her tossing last night, I assumed that was a good sign.

The sheets were straighten this morning. I usually waited until she had left the room to fix them. She must have done it herself after realizing that I hadn't been up when she had initially woken up. It did worry me as much of where she could have gone. There were only so many places that I knew she felt comfortable enough to sit and think. Molly was always thinking of something.

At times I wished I knew what she was thinking. Was it something so terrible, or were there happy thoughts filling her mind.

I slowly leaned forward, stretching as I got ready to get off the chair and find something to wear before going to find Molly. I wanted to take my time with it, but at the same time I was concerned. I made my way around the room to the side of the bed where Molly's bag was usually sitting against the nightstand. It was there.

That was a good sign, I supposed.

I sighed quietly, before turning to my closet to start my daily routine. Going through the motions I reflected on the previous night's activities. Moran dancing with Molly. Our discussion about the wolves who were trying to kill mutts – specifically her. It was a dizzying thought process but it helped me figure out that there was only one place she would go to help her find her answers and it made me feel ill.

As much as I loved my mother, there were things about her that I wasn't quickly to find soothing. As her ways of manipulating people to meet her own ends. She had been amicable with Molly to some extent but it didn't mean that she wasn't prepared to sell her soul to get what she wanted. Her motive this time was of me; her son. A constant annoyance despite Molly's teasing that he was lucky to have her in his life. He had understood her own reasoning for telling him that. She missed her mother who had left her behind with nothing but a letter. A letter that he had only glanced at once and folded quickly once he realized what it was. It was important to the girl, and he had to give it back to her.

I moved through the hallways seeking out the three places that my mother could have taken Molly. The kitchen was empty except for one of my cousins. The sitting room was filled to the brim but no sign of the auburn haired girl or my mom. The last place was the study that had a large library in it. It was the most private place in the house if you wanted to get away from everything. I had often frequented it when I didn't want to be bothered.

I listened for sounds as I made my way up the stairs to the door. I found it shut and also locked. There were voices coming from behind the door. Three distinct ones. I waited to see if I could hear anything specific but it was a hard task. The room was built for not being bothered. If I truly wanted to know what was going on in there I would have to find another way around it.

I found that I had some help in the matter. A quite whistle coming from down the hall in the opposite direction. Mycroft was still here. I wasn't sure why. He would have usually gone off at this point and yet he was still here. He inclined his head to gesture for me to follow him. I only did so out of curiosity.

"Aren't you supposed to be back at work?" I asked when I noticed a device he held in his hands. His face was pensive as he messed with buttons on it. There was a static sound coming from it.

"I am working." He muttered as he fiddled with it some more.

I just stared at him for a few moments. "What are you doing exactly because it doesn't seem like it's working, brother?"

Mycroft shot me a scathingly look. "I have some hearing devices set up in the study for purposes such as this. None of them are picking up."

He was an idiot. He forgot who was in that room. She would have found these bugs already and destroyed them. "You're hopeless."

"Excuse me?"

"She's taken care of them. If she doesn't want anyone to hear what's going on then no one will. Besides why are you so interested in what's going on?"

"If you must know Miss Hooper's mother is in there."

She was here?

I turned back to the room down the hallway. "W-Why?" Was Molly leaving with her mother? After all she had wanted to meet back up with her for years. It wouldn't be too hard for her to do that now that she was here. "How'd she'd find Molly?"

"I brought her." Mycroft was smiling. I hated when he did that.

"Why the hell would you do that?" I huffed folding my arms as I inched closer to him. I could feel the wolf getting annoyed as he realized what was happening. He was growling. For once we were on the same page here.

"It seems she was searching for her too. Wanted to see her. It seemed like a win win situation given Miss Hooper's plight."

"There is no plight."

"No?" His brother said with a teasing smile. He knew something that he wasn't sharing. If I was right it was also the reason he was trying so hard to listen in on what was going on inside the study.

"What do you know?"

"You'll find out, I'm sure. She's rather open with you brother, dear." Mycroft had always been infuriating but it had seemed to accelerate since Molly's appearance.

I decided that I didn't want to hear any more of it and went to stand over by the door to wait for someone to come out. They must have been in there for much longer than I had been awake because it didn't take terribly long for the door to open and Molly to walk out looking out a piece of paper. It wasn't the same page that she carried with her always. It was new.

"Molly." I called, causing her to jump.

"OH. Sherlock, there you are." She gave me a smile as she folded the page up and stuck it in the pocket of her jeans.

I couldn't seem to wait any longer to know what she was going to do. "Are you leaving?"

She bit her lip as she looked up at me with hesitancy. "I know your mother is in there."

"Was in there…" She corrected as she begun to walk down the hallway. She noticed Mycroft there and moved away. I assumed she wanted me to follow. We ended up going outside down to the large tree that we had started to frequent sometimes. She turned to me then. "She's gone again." She didn't seem as sad as she had once been.

"Why?" I wanted to know a lot of things but starting with why she hadn't just gone with her was a good place to start.

"It's a long story which I can share with you of course. I want to share it with you." She trailed off as she pushed her hair out of her face. She was fidgeting as if she wasn't sure where to begin.

It was a good sign that she was eager to talk about it with me. "I told her about you. It was weird…she knew who you were, and your mum too I guess. Maybe that's because they had met this morning. It's kind of confusing." She fiddled with her hands.

I reached out and placed my hands on her shoulder. "Start from the beginning."

**Molly (One Hour Earlier…)**

Mrs. Holmes was waiting for me in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, and a bowl of fruit. The fruit was for me I assumed as she wasn't touching them at all as she sipped her warm beverage. I cautiously approached her. She gave me a smile that was supposed to be genuine but considering I was weary of her in general I had no idea how to respond to it.

I took the seat beside her, and accepted the fruit was a small nod. "After you're done I have someone waiting for you in the study."

I briefly glanced up at her before taking a strawberry into my mouth. I just watched for a second before trying to find some information. "You probably won't tell me who but should I be concerned for my safety?" I was usually worried about it around anyone who wasn't Sherlock. Especially after he told me about Moran.

"Not at all. They're here to see you actually." She said simply.

"That's not comforting." I mumbled after a few beats of silence. She said nothing in response only kept staring. I bent my head down and focused on the fruit. She had given me berries mostly. I was used to eating those, and quite liked them so I ate them as quickly as I could. "Let's get this over with." I said quietly as I wiped my hands off and stood up.

She made sure to stand in front of me the entire way up the stairs and to the door that was a few paces down from Sherlock's door. I had never been here before but somehow it felt nice to be in a room full of books. If given the choice I would be in here every day.

My eyes passed over the volumes of books that set against the two back walls. It went all the way to the ceiling. In front of the books were three-four places to sit – a sofa, two chairs and a foot stool. There was also a woman whose back was turned to the both of us for about half a minute. From where I was standing she had brown hair with streaks of grey in them. They sat at her neck in bob that kept it out of the way. She had on a light jumper from what I could see. All else was hard to discern at this point.

Mrs. Holmes coughed to get her attention and she slowly turned around. I nearly cried. There sitting in the Holmes' family study was my mother. She looked nearly the same as the last time I had seen her. From my memories she hadn't changed at all a part from a few wrinkles on her face. I must have made some variation of a sob because she had got to her feet. "Oh, Molly." She took the seven feet it would take to slip through between the sofa and the much larger chair to reach me. She took my hands immediately. She didn't say anything for a while as she stared at me with wistfulness. "I missed you." She said finally.

I couldn't stand there much longer without holding onto her for dear life, so I went with a slight variance of it. I reached out and looped my arms through her waist which felt much firmer than it used to. She had been so thin when I younger. It meant that she had been eating someplace. Maybe she was comfortable set somewhere. I wanted to ask about it, but Mrs. Holmes had other plans.

"Why don't we sit, so you can talk comfortably?"

I wanted to ask her why she had brought her here. It didn't make sense. If what she wanted was for me to possibly be with Sherlock then why create a situation where I would want to leave? It baffled me, completely.

Mum took my hand regardless and we sat on the sofa together. I hadn't realized it until she used her fingers to wipe my face that I had started crying. I did that sometimes without realizing it. Emotions were a strange thing for someone who was constantly weaving out of potential attachments. This was the one relationship I wanted to have.

"Mum…how'd you find me?" I managed to get out once I had composed myself.

"Her boy. My…something." I laughed, realizing that she meant Mycroft. It was an unusual name. "He came to where I'm living, sought me out I suppose and said that he knew where you were if I wanted to get in contact with you. I waited about a week before deciding it might help the situation."

"The situation?"

She hummed. "I couldn't explain in the note I left you. It concerns your father. He didn't just leave us, Molly. You have to understand that."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll try but what does have to do with you going away?" It was the only way I could think to phrase it.

"Your father is a special man. He's royalty in itself and if he didn't leave something worse was going to happen to us…to you." She paused for a moment as if having a hard time thinking about it. "He loved you so much that he agreed to go back home in order for you to be safe. There were others who were trying to seek out the child of a pure breed and a half breed. I never explained that I'm not from his world. Not from this one either. I've managed to do fine on my own. He's watched out for me but he couldn't do the same for you, and neither could I. To give you a chance I had to leave you."

"I don't know if it was a very good chance."

"It was." She insisted. "I've heard stories about the girl who came back from death several times. You've risked your life to find me and I feel I owe you something better than one lousy note that you keep reading every night before you rest."

She knew about the note. Was she told? Or was it one of those things mother's immediately caught onto. But, no that wasn't it at all. She reached out and plucked the frayed piece of paper out of my pocket where it was sticking out. "I have a new one for you. It contains a map to your father."

"What?" I had never met the man, why would I want to meet him now?

"He's important to your story. To the old tale really." She had been the first one to tell me about the prophecy. For her to be one of the people like Sherlock's mother who believed that it was real made me do a double take.

"How does he fit into it?" I had nothing against my father. Yes, he had left us but the knowledge that he hadn't a real choice in the matter did help settle some abandonment thoughts I've had for a very long time. Besides, she had done the same trick on me years later and I had still wanted to find her.

"Read it." She passed me a folded piece of paper. The parchment was similar to the one I had previously had. On the inside was a map from where we were to the grounds of the castle. Below it were the beginning of the prophecy.

_It is said that there will come a day when a woman will come seeking the truth from the golden one._

The rest of the prophecy was also written in my mother's handwriting but she only wanted me to read the first part. "So you think he's the golden one?" She gave me a nod. "And I'm the woman? It doesn't say anything about who she's supposed to be."

She shook her head and reached over and ran her fingers down the side of my face. It was an affection gesture that I almost greedily leaned into. I missed this. The mum that had been there for me from the beginning only to disappear without a proper goodbye. "My darling daughter sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and hope that you're right about something."

I sniffed, trying to grasp at what she was saying. I would have to take the journey to the grand castle. It was so far away but I had already gone miles away from the place that was once my home. What was another trip?

"If I go won't you join me?" I hoped she would say yes, even though the wolf inside me was stirring in pain as if it had already known the answer.

"I can't. I want to, Molly but I can't."

Then I wept openly. She was going to leave me again with this stupid map to my father. "If he loves you he would want you there too." I pleaded into her shoulder as she drove in to pull me into her arms.

"He does. Oh honey, he really does. But, before I can step foot in that castle he needs to see you. See the beautiful woman you've become. He needs to explain everything because not even I, your own mother have all the answers to why this world is so cruel to us." She paused briefly. I felt her shudder as if she was trying not to weep herself. The feeling of her hands brushing down my hair kept me steady. "You're the key. You're going to have a hell of a time getting to him but it'll be worth it in the end."

"Can you promise me something?" I breathed in her scent. She smelled like sugar and mud. It was an odd mix but I also found comfort in it. This was the woman who gave me life. I wanted to stay like this forever. I couldn't. She couldn't. She had to pull away as much as I didn't want her to.

"You'll be there when I get there."

"Molly…" She started. It was a plea for her to stop before she got started. Her mother was sad, and hurt. There wasn't nothing she could do for her now.

" _Please_."

"I can't make any promises. I won't know when you get there." She told me as she bent down to kiss my forehead. She was setting up her leave.

"We can make arrangements." Mrs. Holmes interceded once again.

This is what confused me. Why was she doing this? It wasn't for me. She didn't really understand me so why would she offer her help once again.

"I'm assuming you'll want my son involved." That was directed towards me, not my mother. I bit my lip, trying hard not to give her what she wanted. She was smiling again. I look towards my mother. "The next line should help. I'll see you soon sweetheart." There was tears in her eyes as she got up and took the few step backwards to get away from me. There was a window behind the desk that gave a view of the back yard. She was going to jump out the window. She was going to leave.

"Is that a promise?" I asked.

"One I can keep." She nodded with a watery smile before she lifted the window and jumped out. The urge to run to the window to see if she made it down safely was heavy in my heart but I stayed sitting there with Mrs. Holmes close by. I felt alone again.

She was waiting for my answer but I wouldn't give it to her. I needed to talk to her son. He was the only one who could help me with this.

**Sherlock - Present**

Molly had passed the map to me. It had been only folded over twice, I opened it up and stared at the map. The second line was staring me right in the face but I chose to look at the map instead. It was very familiar to me. I could count on one hand the amount of times that I had ventured to the royal city. I hadn't even been in the castle but I had met the king once via Mycroft's insistence. It had been a very intimate affair. I remembered it well.

If what Molly had told me was correct her father was the Prince who had never married. Considering what her mother had told her it was only logical to accept that her mother was his reasoning for never taking vows with another woman. It was quite romantic – at least that's the word John would have used if had told him about it. Perhaps he would.

"Are you planning to leave then?" My voice was hollow and devoid of emotion. I could turn it off rather quickly when the moment suited me. This moment I needed to appear as if I was unaffected by her decision if she choose to go at it alone.

She gave me a watery smile. "I need you with me, Sherlock." She must have known what I was thinking. "Besides there's the matter of the second line."

I let out a hearty chuckle as I looked down at it. We couldn't know if it was accurate but she had made her choice. Now it was time to go through with it. "It's the first time I've seen you cry. I don't like it. Please stop."

It had caused her to laugh which was why I did it. Other than the fact that I was stating the truth. "You're going to meet your father." I told her as if that was the biggest revelation of all. Her family's history was enthralling but it had never been told. Perhaps at a later time I'd be able to introduce her to a friend who would be more than willing to tell her story. To tell her struggle. To tell the struggle of two parents who had been separated because of what was expected of them. Someday, perhaps.

For now they had planning to do. The real tale was just beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been ages. I'm sorry about that. But, I'm back - I hope. This was a really interesting chapter to write because it's been so long. I had to actually go back and find certain details again because I had forgotten some stuff. But, I didn't forget what was coming up next. One of which was Molly's mom finally making an appearance. She'll be back guys, but as is this interaction was always going to happen. I had actually wrote down a few details down in my idea notebook about it. Plus the resulting last scene with Sherlock and the 'I need you' bit. For the record I hadn’t even realized it was close the ‘What do you need?’ ‘You.’ scene in a way but it kind of plays off on that. Which is kind of neat, right?
> 
> It just fillsls my heart with emotions you guys. It's just so mwah! I hope it wasn't too stiff after all this time because I even said on tumblr that I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it but after finishing it (it was a rough chapter to get through) I'm really okay with what this is turned out to be. 
> 
> Btw the prophecy will slowly start to reveal itself as we get through Molly and Sherlock's journey. The second line that I mentioned will be in the next chapter but not all the lines will be revealed as easily. It's just how it goes for the moment. I know a lot of you were curious about what it said. Now we know some of it.
> 
> So here we are. I would love to hear your thoughts! Let me know how you feel about what's going on. I would love to know if people are still liking it and what not. 
> 
> Thanks for anyone who is still invested in this AU because I definitely not gonna give up until it's completed. 
> 
> See you next chapter.
> 
> <3 day


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